


Rose Coloured

by Dreamer_777



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Porn, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asian!Natsu, BAMF Lucy Heartfilia, Bi!Lucy, Black!Natsu, Blood and Injury, Bottom Natsu Dragneel, Consensual Kink, Criminal Masterminds, Cunnilingus, Depression, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Violence, Drug Use, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest - Freeform, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, French, French Characters, French!Lucy, Friends With Benefits, Friendship/Love, Gangs, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Im not fluent in all these languages so bear with me lol, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mental Health Issues, Mild Gore, Mixed Race!Natsu, Mystery, Nalu - Freeform, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia Angst, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia Smut, Natsu and Lucy are switches, Natsu is Lucys Comfort, Oral Sex, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Pan!Natsu, Pegging, Physical Abuse, Pining, PoC, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Protective Natsu Dragneel, Rimming, Romantic Friendship, Rough Sex, Secret Relationship, Sex Toys, Sexual Abuse, Slow Burn, Smut, Spanish, Sub Natsu Dragneel, Suicidal Thoughts, Therapy, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Violence, hindi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:48:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 61,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29337051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamer_777/pseuds/Dreamer_777
Summary: Life has been anything but easy for Natsu Dragneel. Between managing work, looking out for his family, and keeping from losing his mind, things have become overwhelming for him.He needs something to distract himself from the turmoil in his life, and luckily for Natsu, there's a blonde haired vixen who needs the same.//This story contains gun violence, drug use, abuse, depression, mentions of suicide, mild gore, and mentions of rape. Some of the smut scenes may be uncomfortable for some readers (this fic includes pegging). Viewer discretion is advised- read at your own risk.//All characters belong to Hiro Mashima. This is a modern au.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 83
Kudos: 102





	1. Bunny

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! This fic is different from my last one. There are some very heavy topics here and the smut scenes are much more intense. I look forward to having you all as readers! ♡

Gray rolled his eyes for probably the 15th time in the last 5 minutes. His irritation had been spiked that evening, and having a motion sick, pink haired idiot sitting next to him wasn't helping. "Would you shut up and pull yourself together? You're honestly pathetic." He grumbled, taking one hand off the wheel to knock his teammate upside the head.

Natsu curled into himself against the dashboard, groaning loudly. He didn't open his mouth to respond, knowing he could very likely throw up all over Gray's car. Gray glared at him for a moment before looking through the rear view mirror, rolling his eyes again when he noticed Gajeel in the back seat in even worse shape than Natsu. "Why can't I have a fully competent team for once…" He grumbled under his breath. 

The car came to a halt, the two passengers sighing in relief at the cease in movement. "Hurry up." Gray called before exiting, making his way toward the dark alleyway they parked near. Natsu felt his senses slowly come back to him as he lifted his head, hearing the faint music playing mixed with the sounds of various people. "Let's go." Gajeel exited after a few deep breaths, Natsu trailing close behind.

"It's about time this dump got shut down." Gajeel mumbled, looking around for witnesses before entering through the backdoor hidden in the alley.

"You've been here before?" Natsu whispered, walking sideways through the narrow hall.

Gajeel placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder, stilling his movements for a minute as he looked around. "Yeah, been here a couple times." He let go and continued walking once he spotted Gray, their teammate leaning against a single door with a dimly lit lamp above it. "This shithole is shady as hell. The owner scams the workers and customers, I've been waiting for us to finally get some leads so we can deal with him." 

"Yeah, I'm glad this place'll shut down then. _And_ we'll get free booze once the job's done!" Natsu grinned as they walked up to Gray and the door. He couldn't help but turn towards the wall, listening to the music on the other side of the hidden passageway. He could make out the sounds of people cheering before their voices died down and the lively music was replaced with a soft melody, his eyes widening when the sound of a woman's singing hit his ears.

"So _she's_ here too, huh? We should make this quick…" Gajeel grumbled, Natsu and Gray turning to look at him in hopes that he'd elaborate. He got the hint, clearing his throat as he narrowed his eyes in distaste. "That chick comes here every blue moon, but whenever she's around, something bad happens. She and her boss have probably been planning on robbing this place tonight… we should make this quick." 

"Maybe we should go deal with her first?" Gray asked, but Gajeel quickly shut that down. 

"Nah, you don't wanna get involved with her, trust me." 

Gray simply shrugged, trusting Gajeel that they could get their own job done without this mystery lady interfering. He took the gun in his holster off safety and looked up to ensure his teammates were ready, his eyebrow twitching when he noticed Natsu was still distracted. "Oi, Flamebrain! We have a job to do here…" He whispered-yelled.

Natsu looked around the dark, narrow hallway until his eyes landed on some double doors, assuming those would lead to the main room of the bar. "You guys go ahead, I'm gonna be a lookout…" Natsu didn't glance back to catch the way Gray and Gajeel glared at him, too busy making his way to the doors. 

He opened them as quietly as he could, though it wasn't necessary as the entire bar's attention was glued to the stage. Natsu was able to hear the singing clearly now, his eyes widening and throat going dry when he caught sight of the woman on stage.

Something about her had Natsu unable to look away. Her voice was smooth, and although he couldn't understand the language she was singing in, he knew he could listen to her all day and never grow tired. 

She maneuvered around the stage, walking close to the sides and giving the lucky viewers near the edges a good look of her. Her curled, blonde hair covered one of her eyes, the other one revealed to be a deep brown colour. She made brief eye contact with him, lasting no more than a second, but Natsu could've sworn she looked into his soul.

He'd already been interested in seeing just who this woman was from Gajeel's words. It was rare that he'd tell them to steer clear of someone, Gajeel came from a dark background filled with gang violence and has always been virtually fearless. A woman who Black Steel Gajeel is afraid of must be a real badass, and Natsu wanted to get a good look at her.

Only, he didn't think she'd be this busty blonde bombshell with the voice of an angel. He wished he knew the song she was singing so he could figure out when she'd be done, he wanted to catch her before she left.

Natsu shuffled through the crowd, noticing how the men were practically hypnotized by this lady. She was definitely beautiful, but he wondered if the unanimous distraction had been caused by some outside factor. If she and her boss were planning on doing some illegal business here, it wouldn't be surprising if she was acting as a diversion now. 

Once he got near the stage door, Natsu waited patiently, leaning against the wall and enjoying the song. He realized she was singing in Spanish, and he wondered if this was her mother tongue. He'd meet her backstage and ask her, and if she was up to no good, he could stop her in her tracks. 

As the music came to a stop and the crowd of people broke out into cheers, Natsu made his move.

He quietly went through the backstage door, a little surprised that there was no security. He kept silent, listening to the sound of heels clicking along the floor getting louder and louder. Once he heard a door open and shut, Natsu moved from his hiding spot, checking to make sure the coast was clear.

He swiftly made his way across the hall, stopping in front of a door with a sign that read "Dressing Room." Sure that this was the right room, Natsu turned the doorknob, surprised that it hadn't been locked. 

The room was well-lit, a small loveseat in one corner and a wardrobe in the other. Right across from the door was a large vanity mirror up against the wall, the blonde woman sitting there and reapplying her lipstick. 

Natsu was a little lost on what to do now, he hadn't thought he'd get this far so easily. He cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at the way she didn't seem to react to someone being in her dressing room. "Um… Miss..?"

The woman said nothing, prompting Natsu to walk closer to her, stopping directly behind her. "Tell me, what is your business here at this bar?"

Natsu caught the way her face morphed into a scowl through the mirror, holding it for a minute before whipping her head around to glare at him. The fierceness of her stare had him taking a step back, her brown eyes boring into his green ones.

She looked him up and down, her glare deepening until she looked at the patch on his arm. Natsu wore a single patch with his gang symbol- a fairy-like drawing- because the suit he was wearing covered his tattoo. After getting a good look of the symbol, the blonde's face lit up, her glare disappearing and being replaced by a sweet smile. 

"Well, hello there." She turned in her seat fully, reaching out a hand for him to shake. Natsu accepted her hand, keeping his eyes firm as she continued to look at him with sudden sultriness. "I sing here because it pays well. Now, may I ask what business _you_ have being here in _my_ room?"

 _It pays well, huh?_ Natsu looked her up and down, blushing slightly at the way her tight blue dress pushed up her cleavage. "I'm here serving justice. This place is getting shut down."

The blonde stood from her seat, standing a few inches shorter than Natsu. She ran a gloved hand over his right arm, resting right over his gang symbol. "Is that so? I assume this is something you do regularly, hm?"

"The boss of this place is a real bad guy, it'll be better for the workers and customers if he was dealt with." The two stared at each other intensely, Natsu's eyes narrowing as the blonde's smile widened. "But I'm sure you don't really care about all that, considering your _reputation_." 

He was only going by Gajeel's words, but Natsu assumed he was correct by the way her grin turned mischievous. "You're right, I'm not really concerned." She shrugged, walking past Natsu towards the door.

"You _should_ be concerned. You have a very beautiful voice, it's a shame you're wasting it on this kind of shit." 

The woman froze in front of the door, turning around slowly to look at him once again. Natsu ignored the incredulous look she gave him, meeting her eyes as he continued. "You're very pretty, too. A girl like you doesn't need to be caught up in something like this. You should be spending your time doing something worthy." 

The woman broke out in a fit of giggles, shaking her head as she walked away from the door and towards Natsu. "I mean it." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Say, how about you come with me? We can talk, I'm sure I could find something better for you to do…"

"Oh my, are you hitting on me?" Natsu's eyes widened at the blonde's sudden closeness. "Well? Is that your idea of a pickup line?" 

"What? No, I… I just wanna talk…" Natsu's throat went dry again. He didn't mean to give this lady the wrong idea, he just genuinely wanted to talk to her some more. "I just wanna get to know you better… Y'know, figure out why you'd be here… Maybe we could be friends..?"

Her giggles turned into full-blown laughter, using a gloved finger to wipe a stray tear that collected in her eye. "You're cute~" She teased, running one hand up from his shoulder to the nape of his neck. "I thought you were some slick flirt, but I was mistaken."

The more she toyed with the hairs along his scalp, the more Natsu began to shudder. The feeling of her satin glove against his skin was oddly comforting, and he found himself subtly leaning into her. "I'd like to get to know you a little more, too. Did you come here alone?"

"No, I'm with my team…"

"Oh? Do you think they'd like to meet me?"

"Uh…" Natsu shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was pretty embarrassing how this woman made him short-circuit from just a simple touch. "No, you see, I heard a rumor about you, and I'll need some, uh, clarification before I can let you leave."

"Hmm… well, that won't work. You haven't _earned_ any clarification." 

Natsu raised a brow in confusion, watching as the woman frowned and put some distance between them. "I haven't earned it? What do you mean- How would I earn it?"

Her sultry smile returned as she leaned into his ear to whisper, "How do you _think_ you'd be able to earn it?" She backed away far enough to look at his flushed expression, poking him once on the nose teasingly. 

Natsu struggled to form a response, his cheeks darkening at her suggestive tone. Was she flirting with him? Was he supposed to flirt back? _Wait, you got a task to do right now, focus!_

Just as Natsu came out of his thoughts, he felt an odd sense of coldness. The blonde woman was making her way out the door, seemingly impatient with his lack of response. "Wait-" Natsu didn't even get the full word out before the door shut, the blonde bombshell already leaving. 

He rushed to open the door, holding in a gasp when there were no traces of her at all. He tried to stay still in hopes that he'd catch the sound of her heels hitting the ground, but there was nothing. _Is she hiding? This damn vixen…_

Just as he began searching for her around the hall, the sound of commotion in the main room of the bar caught Natsu's attention. He suddenly remembered the reason he was here in the first place, quickly taking his gun off safety and rushing around to sneak through the back doors. 

He wasn't outside for a second before he was being jabbed in his side. "There you are! What the hell were you doing!?" Gray grabbed him by the collar, Natsu quickly shoving him off.

"What? I told you guys, I was being a lookout!" 

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Whatever, the job's pretty much done. The boss is out of commission and the cops are on their way, so we better get outta here." 

The three made their way to their vehicle, though Gajeel and Natsu asked that they got a few moments to prepare themselves before they started driving again. "Did you end up seeing Bunny?" Gajeel asked, causing Natsu and Gray to turn and look at him in confusion. 

"Bunny?"

"The chick that was singing. She goes by Bunny." 

"The hell kinda name is 'Bunny?' Is it an alias?" Gray popped a piece of gum in his mouth as he started the car, rolling his eyes at the dramatic way his teammates began to pale.

"Y-yeah." Gajeel began to mumble as he already felt himself getting sick. "She's notorious amongst criminals. Did ya get any dirt on her, Salamander?"

Natsu shook his head, giving a faraway look. "No… she, um, got away."

"Hmph… she's known for using her 'feminine charms' to get her way. Maybe she made ya more dense than usual."

Gray barked out a laugh as he shook his head. "Yeah right! Natsu can't tell a woman from his hand- this is just a classic case of his incompetence."

"Shut up, assholes!" Natsu growled, though he wasn't able to throw any punches as Gray began to drive, the pinkette slouching in his seat and whimpering loudly. 

Gray could only shake his head and snicker. "My point exactly."


	2. Questions

Lucy checked her face in her pocket mirror one more time before walking outside the bar, smirking at the sheer panic that was going on inside. The boss must've initiated some sort of lockdown, likely trying to find a way to get out before the cops came. Those fairies are good at what they do, though, so there really was no hope for him.

She closed her mirror and stuffed it into her purse, taking a deep breath before walking through the alley to her secret location. Just as expected, there was a black limousine with tinted windows waiting for her. She sighed as she felt her hands clam up, sweating nervously as she lifted a fist to knock.

After knocking on one of the windows, it rolled down to reveal a man with fiery red hair and sunglasses masking his eyes. "Did you get the job done?" He asked, his voice low and deep.

Lucy pulled a wallet of her purse and handed it to the man, watching as he counted the money in it before he smiled, revealing his sharp teeth. "Good girl. Come in." 

She walked around to the other side of the limo and got in, sitting as far from the man as she could. It didn't matter, though, because he scooted close to her and ran his hand down her arm. 

"You've been a good little _Bunny_ today. Let me appreciate you…" He placed one hand over her exposed thigh, running it upwards until it was dangerously close to her core. Lucy tried to keep her composure, but once she felt his hot breath on her neck, she snapped. 

"Don't fucking touch me!" She snarled as she shoved him away from her, watching his face go from shock to anger. "You know I can't stand it when you touch me, Ignia!"

"You little bitch…" Ignia grabbed her thigh roughly before smacking her across the face, smearing parts of her makeup. "You're such a useless wife! All you're good for is being a whore!" 

Lucy groaned as she pulled out her pocket mirror again, examining her makeup. Some of her bruises were now visible, all the work she did to hide them completely ruined. "You asshole… look at what you did! I have a client tonight, now I'll be late trying to fix my face!" 

He pulled out his phone and typed something quickly before putting it back in his pocket. "There, I just canceled it for you. Why don't you show some gratitude?"

Lucy spat at him when began caressing her thigh again. "Fuck you. Touch me again and I'll shoot your fucking dick off." She whipped her own phone out and sent out a message. "I'm gonna set up a new client tonight. I want the money."

"You're such a fucking slut, you know that? You're _so_ obsessed with fucking people for money. I bet you like being my prostitute, don't you?" 

Lucy ignored her "husband's" words, leaning against the car window and looking out onto the scenery as they drove further and further from the bar. She knew her intentions, the only reason why she put up with doing her makeup every night was because she'd take any chance she could to get out the house and away from this sorry excuse for a man. 

It wasn't like she was even having sex with any of her clients, but it didn't matter. She'd let Ignia think she was, whatever would make him back off. All that mattered to him was that she was bringing home money anyway, but if he was disgusted with her, there was a lower chance that he'd touch her.

* * *

Natsu shook the water out of his eyes, cutting off the faucet and taking a deep breath. He'd been pretty off tonight, it wasn't like him to let someone get away. Not only that, but he slacked off on his job to try and get some information on this woman, only to come up short. Gajeel and Gray are definitely gonna give him shit for this for weeks. 

He looked himself in the mirror, giving a mental speech to pull himself together. It sucks to miss out on a possible lead, but he needs to shake it off and stay focused from now on so this doesn't happen again. 

Natsu exhaled deeply, the more he thought about what happened tonight, the more irritated he got. That woman was so beautiful, he hates to imagine her being a criminal. If only he'd been able to have a full conversation with her, maybe he could learn her motives. Maybe Gajeel was wrong, or maybe the rumors were just exaggerated… 

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of his ringtone, grabbing his phone off the bathroom counter. It was an unknown number calling, but that wasn't uncommon. Doing the jobs they do, other gang members usually use a burner phone to make calls, especially business related ones. This was likely just one of his partners, so Natsu didn't think much of it when he answered and held the phone up to his ear.

 ** _"Hey there, handsome~_** "

His breath caught in his throat, trying to make sense of who this voice could belong to. It definitely wasn't one of his friends, but it was still familiar…

**_"Oh my, are you still having trouble speaking to me? I thought you said you wanted to talk..?"_ **

Natsu's eyes widened as he held in a groan. He almost couldn't believe it. "Don't tell me- Are you Bunny?"

There was a pause on the other line for a minute before Natsu could make out the sound of faint giggles. **_"Yes, this is 'Bunny.' I was thinking, maybe I should give you another chance to earn a conversation with me… What do you say?"_**

"What… How did you get this number?" Natsu was a mix between excited and panicked. He'd have another chance to figure this lady out, but if she was able to get his number that quickly, what else does she have on him? Someone knowing such personal information about him could be dangerous, especially if the rumors about her are true. 

**_"I know how to get things."_** He could practically hear the smirk in her voice. **_"I sent you an address, you have until 11pm and no later. See you soon~"_** And just like that, she hung up, leaving Natsu flushed and confused. 

He checked his notifications, seeing that she really had sent him some address. He wasn't sure what to make of any of this- could he trust this woman? Is he being set up? And most of all, would this even be worth it? 

Natsu stared at his phone for another minute before exhaling and rushing into his room to grab some clothes. After putting the address into his GPS, he found out the location was some big shot hotel, about an hour walk away. 

It didn't matter what her intentions were, he was going to get some answers. He may not be too great with talking, but if there was one thing Natsu was good at, it was snuffing out crime. With his gun loaded and strapped to his side, Natsu gave Happy one pet on the head before heading out the door. 

* * *

The city had been loud, ringing in Natsu's ears up until he found his destination. The land seemed secluded, but the many people bustling throughout the hotel's entrance said otherwise. This was likely a private establishment, judging by how well-off the people looked and how absolutely humongous the building was.

Of course he'd heard of this place, but Natsu lived in a rural area and never had a reason to come out into the city like this outside of "work." This place, _L'hôtel Heartfilia_ , was incredibly fancy, and only rich tourists came around this city at all, let alone the hotel. 

Natsu honestly felt overwhelmed. It's been a long time since he'd been comfortable being amongst so many people, and though the hotel was more formal than the city surrounding it, he still felt uneasy. It also confused him, why would Bunny want to meet at such a public area? Speaking of which…

The blonde rounded the corner from the side of the building before standing at the entrance, a cigarette in hand. She grinned at Natsu's daze, subtly fixing her tight, white latex dress around her large bust. She put out her cigarette before approaching him, running her gloved finger over his cheek and shaking her head. "It's 10:59, you almost missed your chance~"

"I walked…" Natsu nodded at her surprised expression. Everyone was always shocked to know he refused to use transportation. "Didn't think you were the type to smoke." 

Lucy's grin fell and turned into a scoff as she turned around, silently ushering him to follow her through the hotel's entrance. Since she hadn't stopped by the front desk, Natsu figured she already had a room picked out. If she was leading him into a trap, he'd be prepared, keeping his guard up and his hand close to the gun hidden behind where his jacket met his pants. 

Lucy guided him up several flights of stairs, and Natsu silently thanked the heavens that she hadn't chosen the elevator. They walked in silence up several floors before she finally stopped in front of a door, seemingly the only room on the entire floor. After looking out through the windows that lined the wall, it was clear that they were on the topmost floor, making Natsu a bit surprised at how quickly they got up there as well as a little paranoid. Heights tended to be a trigger for him…

"Come." Lucy's voice had him prying his eyes off the windows and towards her, gaping at the sheer elegance that was the hotel sweet. It was huge, no wonder why it nearly took up the whole floor…

The door locked behind them, Natsu taking another second to look around at the decor before setting his guard back up. He felt uneasy at the way Lucy's smile turned crooked, her brown eyes darkening. "You're the first person to come here. This is like my little hideout, not even my boss knows about this place. You should feel special." She took a seat on one of the plush sofas that sat in front of a sleek coffee table, Natsu deciding to join her.

Natsu could feel his hands get clammy as he balled them in and out of fists. This wasn't very expected, he thought she'd try something fishy by now, but she just sat quietly beside him. "So…" He cleared his throat. "...What's your name? Your _real_ name?"

"None of your business, Salamander." 

Natsu knew he shouldn't be surprised that she knew his alias, she already knew his number, after all. "Hey, how'd you get my phone number, anyway?"

Lucy shrugged. "Like I said, I know how to get things. Oh, and the number I used was from a burner, so you can lose it." Natsu nodded, that made sense. Silence fell over them again, and she didn't seem uncomfortable at all, simply giving him time to form his thoughts. Natsu sighed heavily as he ran his hand through his pink locks, turning to look at the blonde fully.

"Tell me, are the rumors true?"

"What do _you_ think?" Lucy giggled, holding up a wallet and wiggling it between her fingers. A black leather wallet with one scratch on the underside of it. _Natsu's_ wallet.

"Wait… how the hell…" Natsu checked his pants, confirming that she had in fact pickpocketed him. As someone with as much training as Natsu has, it was pretty embarrassing, but he was very impressed with her ability. He hadn't realized she even touched him at all. 

After snatching his wallet out from her grasp, Natsu grumbled under his breath. So she _is_ a crook, huh? If that's true, then it left him no choice, he'd sit and get a little more information, and then he'll report her to his gang. As if she could read his mind, Bunny chirped up.

"So, you gonna arrest me or something?"

"Nope." Natsu met her eyes, his gaze sincere. He wouldn't get her thrown in the slammer, it wasn't wise for him to directly go to the cops. Even though they were doing good, gangs still had bad reputations, and it'd be more trouble than it was worth to get caught up with the police. "I won't, couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm sure you knew that already, though."

The blonde nodded, looking off at nothing for a moment before stretching out and draping her legs across Natsu's lap. "Yeah… what's it like? Being in your gang?" 

"Hm… I came here to learn about _you_ ," Natsu deflected.

"Okay, you've got 5 questions. Ask away." 

A little confused with the question limit, he looked down at her feet from where they rested in his lap, just now noticing she took off her black, latex boots. She wiggled her toes, noticing the attention. "Fine… could you _please_ tell me your name?"

"No can do." Lucy grinned at Natsu's pointed look, the pinkette annoyed with her secrecy. "Well, I never guaranteed that I'd _answer_ the questions. You've got 4 more."

Natsu thought carefully. So, she wasn't keen on answering questions that were too personal? That's fine… "What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

It didn't take long for her to think about her answer, laughing dryly as she said, "I once had someone killed because he groped me." 

"...And do you regret it?" 

There was a long silence, and Natsu realized that she wouldn't answer that one. "Why'd you set this up? This meeting, I mean..?" 

"My schedule was free, and you're cute. We hadn't gotten to talk much at the bar, I assume you were 'on the clock,' yeah?" 

"You think I'm c-cute?" Natsu's face broke out in an embarrassing blush. He didn't normally talk to women, not knowing any outside his family or the gang. He hadn't gotten a compliment like that since high-school, before his social life went to shit. Natsu's cheeks darkened at the sound of her laughter. He didn't mean for his voice to go up so many octaves, but he couldn't help himself. 

"Yes, you're very cute. That counted as your last question, by the way." 

Natsu growled in frustration, struggling to keep a mellow attitude as the blonde vixen continued to grin at him. "I barely learned anything about you! What are you hiding, woman?" He couldn't understand why she was being so difficult. She'd already brought him the place she called her hideout, and unless this is a trap, it just didn't make sense for her to keep acting this way. There had to be _some_ reason she wanted to keep things from him…

"Do you have somewhere to be in the morning, Salamander?" 

"Nah, I can be out as late as you want me to." 

"Oh?" Lucy brought her hand up to her lips to stifle her giggles. "Very bold of you to assume I'm asking because I _want_ you to stay."

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well… why else would you be asking..?" 

"Well, maybe I _do_ want you to stay, but you really shouldn't assume. Especially not when it comes to a girl like me." She licked her lips, her gaze turning more and more predatory as she stared him down. "You see, my 'client' tonight got canceled, so I need some company. You don't mind, do you? I really am awfully _bored_ …" 

Natsu felt a shiver run down his spine as he continued to look into her eyes. She had a "client" tonight? _Does that mean she's an escort?_

"Wait…" He felt heat pool in his cheeks as a thought struck him. "Are you saying you wanna… that you wanna have s-sex?"

An entire minute passed with Lucy staring at him blankly, her lip twitching before she broke out in full-blown laughter. Natsu felt his embarrassment triple, looking away awkwardly and silently wishing she'd get her feet out of his lap. 

"Have sex with you!? Oh my-" She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Where did you get _that_ idea?"

"Uh, well, earlier you said I had to 'earn' clarification from you, and now you say I'm, like, your stand-in for your canceled 'client'... I just assumed…" 

"No, I'm not gonna have sex with you." She began to move one of her feet in circles, subtly massaging his thigh. "Well, not unless you want me to…"

As Natsu began to stammer incoherently, she continued. "You'd have to pay me, though. And I'm no cheap hussy." His babbling grew louder as his cheeks flushed darker, making her have pity on him. "I'm kidding, okay? God, you're _so_ cute… wanna know a secret?"

Intrigued to get some more information on her, Natsu nodded silently, ignoring her compliment. "I don't have sex with any of my clients. Been waiting for the right person to give myself to. The people I come across are too gross for my standards." She looked away from his shocked expression. "They don't know that, though. Everyone I meet with, I drug them and rob them blind, sometimes they wake up not knowing what happened at all, other times they get aggressive… the aggressive ones are _dealt_ with, though." Her gaze turned distant for a moment before she shook the fog out of her eyes. "No one knows that, including my boss. Hm, yet another reason why you should feel special..."

Natsu thought over what she said. She doesn't have sex with them? Well, considering the risks that could come with doing something like that, it'd make sense that she doesn't, but it still was a little odd. Her personality is just so flirty, and she's so attractive… is she really not sexually active? _She said she doesn't have sex with the clients, not that she doesn't have her own sex life separate from work… I'm not a client, so she could still be insinuating…_

"Why do you look so nervous? Calm down." Natsu shook his suggestive thoughts away to look back at Lucy, her arms were crossed and her lips in a thin line. As long as she didn't try anything, he'd be fine. He wasn't sure _what_ he'd do had she seriously been hitting on him, dealing with flirty women is not a skill he's good at. 

Natsu straightened himself in his seat. "You… you do a lot of bad things…" Lucy nodded. "And, drugging and robbing people is very wrong…"

"Well, yes, of course. I'm not a child, I know what I'm getting myself into." 

"Why? Why do you do those things? Do you think it's worth it?" 

The blonde tsked, narrowing her eyes at him. "You've already asked the 5 questions I've allowed you." 

Natsu scowled at her, crossing his arms. "But that's not fair!" He whined. "I walked a whole hour to meet you here, I really wanna get to know you better… maybe we could be friends…"

"I'm not gonna fuck you, so you can drop the act." Lucy huffed, but she kept her face in a smirk to mask her annoyance.

 _She did it again, this damn flirt…_ "I don't expect you to… to _fuck_ me. I'm serious, I just wanna talk." 

"Oh, c'mon!" Lucy's voice raised in volume, not liking the way he seemed to be mocking her intelligence. "I've been doing this for long enough to know a flirt when I see one. You're _obviously_ hitting on me, and you should know that I'm not-"

" _Hitting_ on you? How!? I'm just trying to get you to open up to me. What part of 'maybe we could be friends' don't you understand?" With her being so secretive, flirting with him, and now accusing him of trying to seduce her, Natsu's irritation spiked. "I've never even hit on a girl before…" He mumbled. 

"What?" Natsu immediately regretted saying that. "You've _never_ _.._? But you're so hot, you really haven't had a girl- wait, are you gay?" 

"N-no! I'm straight… I guess…" 

"You guess..?"

"Look, I am attracted to women, but just… I never dwelled on that kinda stuff, and nowadays I don't really get out much…" 

Lucy nodded in understanding, now idly running both her feet across one of his thighs. "Okay… well, tell me. Why would you wanna be _friends_ with someone like me?" She smirked again, though her eyes were softer than before.

"Um," Natsu had to stop himself from getting lost as they made eye contact again. "I just think you're very pretty, and the rumors just don't make sense to me. What's a beautiful girl like you wasting her life away in crime for?" 

"Okay, now _that_ was definitely flirting." She laughed at the way he growled. 

"No, it's not! I'm just being nice, and it's true. You're very… interesting."

"'Interesting?' And you're _not_ trying to get in my pants tonight?"

"No, dammit!" 

"Oh, really?" She slid a leg over his, straddling him and placing her hands against the couch on either side of his face. Natsu had to take a few seconds to process what just happened, flushing at the way she was now sitting in his lap. "You _seriously_ don't want me?" 

Natsu held in a groan, gulping loudly and nodding his head because he knew if he spoke, his voice would come out strained and embarrassing. 

"Do you even think you're _allowed_ to be my 'friend?' Your gang probably wouldn't like it…" She leaned into his face, running one of her fingers down his cheek. Natsu felt a shiver run down his spine, finding himself wishing she wasn't wearing gloves so he could feel her skin on him. 

"I, um, I can be friends with you… but I'd need to get to know you, first. Can't be buddy-buddy with some cold-blooded freak, y'know..?" Lucy hummed in response, and Natsu was proud of himself for not stammering despite her close contact. "The gang'll understand… I'm just keeping another possible criminal off the streets…" He paused, hoping his wording hadn't offended her. "I'm not one to judge people, especially based off of rumors. I just thought you deserved a shot-"

A loud bang caused Natsu's words to catch in his throat, his eyes wide and ears ringing. While he was still frozen in shock, Natsu realized that the loud noise had been a gun, and he focused his gaze on Lucy, the blonde panting with a flushed face.

She held the gun upwards, and he looked up onto the ceiling to see what she fired at, gasping at the sight of multiple bullet indents in the- _apparently bulletproof_ \- roof. Looking back down at her, it didn't take long for him to recognize the weapon in her hand. It was _his_ gun, she'd pickpocketed him _again_. 

"Move your hands." 

Natsu nearly cowered at the tone of her voice, she sounded _mad_. He hadn't even noticed his hands, he must've unconsciously moved them to grip her thighs while he was talking. "Oh…"

Lucy gave him back his gun once his hands were situated, huffing and narrowing her eyes. "No one touches me without my permission."

Natsu almost nodded, but he felt a strong wave of irritation hit him. "Wait, then how come _you_ can sit in my lap without _my_ permission!? And how the hell do you keep taking my shit without me noticing!?" 

She hopped off of him then, turning around to walk towards the balcony. " _I_ make the rules here."

Though he was annoyed, Natsu didn't say anything else. If she didn't want to be touched, then he wouldn't touch her, despite how she was being a bit unreasonable. She's making it really hard to not restrain her and take her straight to the Fairy Tail hideout for proper questioning. 

"You should go. That's enough for tonight."

"Wait, what?" Natsu stood up from the couch, walking towards her but stopping just shy of the balcony door. "But I still wanna talk…"

Lucy stared out onto the land before turning around to face him, recognizing his trepidation with walking out to see the heights. She moved to stand in front of him, smiling sweetly. "I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into, cutie."

"I ain't afraid of you, if that's what you're getting at."

He felt her grip his wrist, tensing slightly before he realized she was trying to guide him to follow her. Reluctantly, he let her take him towards the room's door. 

"You _should_ be afraid." She batted her eyelashes at him. "You should know better than to get caught up with a girl like me~"

The tone of her voice didn't match her words, she sounded more inviting than anything. Was this reverse psychology? Whatever it was, it was working, Natsu wanted to continue to be "caught up" just to prove to her that he was no wuss.

"Seriously, though, I've gotta see my boss tonight, so you'll have to leave." Natsu pouted at her words, upset that things would be ending so soon. Before he could say anything, Lucy snickered. "You're seriously not gonna get laid, I don't know why you're so persistent-"

"I already told you I don't want that." The way Natsu's voice became firm and deep startled Lucy, her eyes widening and cheeks flushing for a second before she recovered. "I was being genuine, y'know? And your boss is a huge asshole for using you for this bullshit." 

"And how do you know it wasn't my own personal choice to work for him?" She wanted to be annoyed, but Lucy couldn't help but be intrigued. He seemed so sure of himself, that she wasn't willingly acting this way. "What did I tell you about making assumptions?"

"Well, I wouldn't need to assume if you would just tell me about yourself." 

Lucy wordlessly ushered him out the door, but Natsu held his ground, much to her exasperation. "It'll never be that easy to get any information outta me. I suggest you leave before I _make_ you."

In a moment of desperation, Natsu nearly reached to grab her, but he stopped himself after remembering how she didn't want to be touched. "Wait, can I see you again? Maybe I could meet at one of your 'jobs'- when would you be singing again?" 

Lucy shook her head, but she couldn't suppress the small grin that formed on her face. "Why do you care _so_ much? Am I really that irresistible?" 

"Yeah, kinda." 

That earned a giggle, though Natsu wasn't joking. She was enticing, and her mystery really interested him. He hadn't even thought much of her until the first time they spoke. Her voice is so soft, her brown eyes so big and smile so sweet- it just didn't make sense. Why would a girl like her turn to crime?

Natsu's thoughts became jumbled when the beautiful blonde leaned into him, caressing his bicep before placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "Tell your friends you got to talk to me." Natsu was still recovering from the feeling of her soft lips against his skin. Her words were a little odd, but he nodded dumbly. "They probably won't believe you, so," She poked at his cheek, "that's your proof~"

Natsu nodded again, this time giving in as she pushed him fully out of the door. "Bye bye now, _fairy boy_!" 

He stared at the door in silence for a moment, sighing when he heard the sound of it locking. Fine, she could keep her secrets, but he'll definitely figure her out. Part of working in the Fairy Tail gang meant finding information, and they're good at what they do. Natsu'll stop by the headquarters and search around for any traces of a bustling blonde by the name of "Bunny" in any crime cases, and maybe he'll ask around for some help.

Natsu wasn't discouraged as he walked down the steps and towards the hotel's exit. This was only the beginning, and he could almost taste the sweet victory of figuring out just what this woman is hiding. 


	3. Risk

Natsu sighed lowly, his eyelids heavy and throat sore. He had no idea how he used to pull all-nighters throughout the entirety of high school, he got 2 hours of sleep last night and it feels like he was hit by a bus. 

"Natsu? Is everything okay?" 

He looked up to meet the kind, blue eyes of Mirajane, the gang's top informant. She gave him a once over before placing her hand on his shoulder, giving a wane smile. "You look a bit tired."

"I'm fine, Mira." Natsu tried to brush her off, but she shook her head. 

"Are you sure? There hasn't been anything particularly bothering you lately, has there?"

"You look worse than usual." Gray added from where he poked his head out of his office. Natsu rolled his eyes, used to the teasing comments. 

"I was up all night doing… research. I was looking for some information on a new lead…" 

"Wait… _you_ doing _research_?" Gray burst into laughter, the idea just too far-fetched. "I've never heard of _that_!"

Natsu said nothing, surprising Gray, Mira, and the other members who had been nearby. It was clear that Natsu hadn't been himself in years, but they've never seen him so exhausted. Not only that, but he was ignoring an insult, from _Gray_ nonetheless!

"Natsu…" He turned back around to look at Mira when she called out to him, clearly not in the mood. Mira smoothed a hand down his back and gave him an encouraging pat. "Well, if you're really fine… Makarov would like to speak with you."

Of course, it was probably about last night's job. Natsu nodded and walked off up the stairs without another word. He wasn't sure what his punishment would be, it's been a long time since he last did poorly on a job. That was probably another reason he was being called to the assistant boss' office, they were all always so worried about him. 

Once he got to the door, Natsu knocked a specific rhythm, signaling his presence and being allowed into the room. "Hey, Gramps." Natsu greeted as he entered the office and took a seat, his voice sounding more gruffy than he meant for it to. 

"How've you been, Natsu?" Makarov sat behind his desk, his chair adjusted to the highest setting so their faces were leveled.

"Same as always." That was Natsu's go-to response, he'd been feeling the same for a long time now.

"I see." Makarov took a moment to collect his thoughts. He didn't want to risk Natsu becoming defensive. "Well, about last night's job…" He decided to ignore the long sigh that Natsu let out. "What happened? Gajeel and Gray ended up doing all of the work."

"There was this girl. ' _Bunny_ '." Makarov's eyes widened, but he didn't interject. "Gajeel said some things about her… I just _had_ to see if they were true. I thought maybe it'd be another lead… or maybe… I don't know, maybe she was just misunderstood…" Natsu rubbed his eyes, though it didn't make much of a difference. Hopefully Gramps wouldn't keep him here long so he could get to work before he passes out.

"Bunny is a very dangerous target, very few have seen her while she's working… It would've been wiser to ignore her presence, honestly." 

"But… I didn't think- I mean, she's…" Natsu shook his head, his thoughts completely jumbled in his exhausted state. "She was leaving, so I caught her before it was too late. She didn't seem all that different from any other leads we've had… I mean, she invited me to this hotel-"

"Wait, she did _what_?" Makarov began to sweat. "No one's ever actually _spoken_ to her… Do you understand how risky that is?" Natsu couldn't understand why he was being so worried. Nothing bad happened last night, Bunny could've easily hurt him if she wanted to. 

"Listen, that girl is nothing but trouble. Messing around with her could really end up hurting you in the long run, so you should just forget whatever you two had last night." 

Natsu almost didn't catch Makarov's innuendo, but he felt heat pool in his cheeks once he understood. "Wait, I only met up with her and talked for a bit. We didn't go any further than that, honestly!"

Makarov simply shrugged, not really believing him but understanding that he may just be too embarrassed to admit it. "Whatever you two did, it should be a one-time thing. Try not to be distracted during work from now on."

Still feeling like he was being misunderstood, Natsu defended himself. "I was just trying to see if she was another person we had to take down… If she wasn't as bad as the rumors say she is, then I would've, I dunno, tried to help her? I didn't get much out of her, but I really think there's some potential there. She's so pretty… and her voice, I just don't understand why she'd wanna be a criminal…"

Makarov cleared his throat, snapping Natsu out of the daze he was falling into. "You're not planning on… _pursuing_ her, are you, boy?"

"What? No! I just wanted to get to know her! Besides, I don't think that was her intention with me, either…" 

"I don't want you to put yourself in danger over this girl." Natsu stopped himself from rolling his eyes, resorting to shrugging his shoulders. "I mean it, brat. You're dismissed." 

As he left the room, Natsu grumbled under his breath. He didn't like being doubted, just as much as he didn't like people being judged based on rumors. He knew all too well how that felt, and if it weren't for this gang taking him in, he probably would've ended up turning to the wrong side. Maybe all Bunny needed was a push in the right direction, but if everyone looked away from her because they were afraid, then she'll never get the help she needs.

"Maybe you should go home and get some rest." He felt a hand on his back, wondering how long it'd been there. He turned to see Mira again, she must've been waiting for him outside of Gramps' office. 

"I'm fine, Mira. There's some more researching I wanna do, and the resources here are better than they are at home-" Natsu's words died down as he looked at her in confusion, she had reached up and started wiping at his face with her thumb. "Uh, what're you doing..?" 

"You've got, er, a _mark_ …" Mira reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, opening the front camera so he could see himself. The first thing Natsu noticed was how sleep-deprived he looks, his hair a mess and the bags under his eyes darker than usual. He then saw the dark red stain on his cheek, and it wasn't hard to make out that it was in the shape of a pair of lips. 

Natsu blushed lightly at the memory of last night. That's where Bunny had kissed him, but he hadn't realized her lipstick transferred onto his skin. He wasn't sure why the memory made him so flustered, he'd been kissed on the cheek before… maybe it was because all the other times had been platonic, but Bunny still held a mystery on what her true intentions were…

"So… I'm assuming you were a bit _occupied_ last night, is that why you're so tired?" Mirajane smiled softly at him as he handed back her phone, assuming his embarrassed flush was a good enough answer. "Are you saying you did 'research' because you're embarrassed? There's no reason for you to be ashamed, you're an adult man and-"

"Woah woah, you've got it all wrong! I really was up all night researching something, nothing happened! Well… nothing _really_ happened." 

Natsu sighed, realizing he wasn't making things any better for himself. "Look, I just, I got a _really_ good lead… I mean, I met up with a girl, but we didn't have sex or nothing… I was just trying to get information outta her. I was up all night doing some more digging once I got home, but I didn't really find much."

"Wait, why were you looking for information on this woman?" 

"Well, apparently the girl goes by 'Bunny,' and-"

" _What_!?" Mira gasped, causing Natsu to groan. So she's paranoid about her, too? " _Please_ tell me you two didn't have sex!" 

"I just said-" Natsu sighed. "No, we didn't have sex." 

Mira sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness." She could tell Natsu was irritated, he never likes his abilities to be doubted, but he needs to understand the risk he just took. "Natsu, do you know what Bunny does? People have been going _missing_ after messing around with her!"

"Well, she took me to her hotel room and didn't hurt me, so I don't think-" 

"Does she have any of your personal information? Your name? Number?"

"Well, yeah-" 

"Oh dear… well, you should change your number immediately…" 

"Oh come on!" Natsu rolled his eyes. She was being a little _too_ paranoid now, and it wasn't necessary at all. "It's not that serious. This ain't nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Not liking his tone, Mira propped her hand on her hip. "You're taking this too lightly, Natsu. Bunny is way worse than she seems, she's completely cold-blooded-"

"Lemme just stop you right there." Natsu rubbed his eyes again, holding back a yawn. He realized she was right about one thing- he really needed some sleep. "Look, I really should go, but you should think about what you're saying. Aren't all those things just stuff that people used to say about _you_?" 

Mira frowned, but she didn't say any more, allowing Natsu to turn and head out the building. He figured he'd come back later, then they could have a proper argument about this. It just didn't seem right that she was being so judgemental, and it made him more annoyed when he realized Gajeel and Gramps had been the same. 

It was just so hypocritical for them to be this way. Nearly every member of this gang made some mistakes in the past, and the initial reason this organization was even founded was to stop unjustified judgment. Bunny would probably be a good recruit, but he'd need to get more information about her first. 

Natsu had stomped a few blocks towards home before he felt a buzz in his pocket. He pulled his phone out, seeing that an unknown number was calling. In his aggravated state, he almost hit decline, but something made him hesitate. Maybe this could be…

"Hello?" 

_**"Hey! You left something here after your visit last night, y'know~"** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines Day ♡


	4. In Progress

Lucy sighed as she set down her phone and stretched her arms out. She was honestly surprised that he answered, not many people would pick up an unknown number at 9:30 am. He must've been hoping for her call, which would mean her plan is working…

She allowed herself to take in her little victory for a minute before rushing to her mirror. Making sure no marks were visible on her skin, Lucy deemed herself ready for his arrival. She'd gotten in a bit of trouble for coming home so late last night, but Ignia is out of town today, so she had the perfect opportunity to relax a little. 

And what better way to relax than to tease the sexy hunk of a man that is Natsu Dragneel?

There was a loud, frantic knock on the door, and Lucy knew it had to be him- no one else in the hotel would dare to even go near her room. She took one last look at herself in the mirror before answering the door, her smile sultry as she looked him up and down.

"Hello there~"

"What do you have that belongs to me?"

Natsu was trying to come across as serious, but the way his cheeks reddened was enough proof for Lucy to know she had an effect on him. She reached into her bra and pulled out his wallet, watching his eyes widen in shock. 

"Wha- but… how..?"

"I'm _very_ good at what I do, _beau_." She batted her lashes as she gave him his wallet. He hesitated to follow her into the room once she turned around, but he ultimately decided to shut the door and join her. 

Natsu growled when he counted his money, not seeing the correct amount. "You're $20 short."

"I'll consider it payment for allowing you to take up my free time." 

Natsu rolled his eyes, but he didn't make any comment. She was allowing him another chance to get information on her, and this'll definitely be valuable for when he has to face the gang again. 

"My boss is away today, so, I thought maybe you and I could enjoy ourselves~"

"...What do you mean..?" 

"Well, what do you _want_ me to mean?" 

Natsu hid his face in his scarf, but he knew she saw his deep blush. He also knew she was only trying to get a rise out of him, and he shouldn't give into her ways. "Look, I'd love to talk to you some more, but-"

Her loud laughter cut him off, and he stared at her in confusion before she finally settled down. "Your face..!" The blonde giggled, and Natsu cringed when he realized what she was referring to. 

"Aw, you didn't wanna wash off the mark I gave you last night? You're so cute~" She cupped his cheeks, coddling him. 

"No! I just didn't get any sleep last night…"

"Oh? Were you up all night thinking of me?" 

"Actually, yeah, I was." Natsu held in a smirk when he got her to blush. "I was looking for more information about you."

The blonde quickly recovered, her mischievous grin returning. "Did you have any luck?" 

"No…"

"I thought so." 

"I… I didn't expect to see you again… at least not this soon." Natsu decided to sit on the bed in the main bedroom, suddenly remembering how exhausted he was before he ran all the way here.

"You're very… _interesting_ to me. Anyone with as much training as you would know better than to get involved with me, yet you did anyway." Her smile almost seemed warm, but it fell once he addressed her.

"Well, _Bunny_ , I don't think you're as bad as people say you are." 

"Then you're very naive. I could kill you if I wanted, you know that?"

"Yeah, but I also know that you wouldn't." 

Taking that as a challenge, Lucy grabbed the gun that was in the holster around her thigh and pointed it at him. "Don't push your luck, _Salamander_."

Natsu wasn't afraid, but he remembered when she fired his own gun last night. Looking up, he was surprised to see the bullet holes on the ceiling were gone. "I had the staff here patch things up a bit." She explained, noticing his confusion. 

"They didn't have a problem with you shooting up their ceiling?"

"Of course not. I own this establishment, it's _my_ ceiling. " 

Natsu gaped at her, trying to remember the hotel's name. "Wait, so, you're French? I'm pretty sure the sign was in French… but you were singing in Spanish when I first saw you…"

"Well first of all, this hotel was _given_ to me, but yes, I'm French, and I can speak Spanish as well. That counts as your first question, by the way."

"Eh? We're doing the whole '5 questions' thing again?" 

"Sure." As she strapped her weapon back into the holster, Lucy sat next to him on the bed. "So, you can recognize French… _tu parles français_?"

"Uh… oui, er, no?" She rolled her eyes at his cluelessness, but looked over his tattoos from where she sat, paying close attention to the symbol on his shoulder. "Do you think I could ever join a gang like yours?"

The question caught him off guard, and Natsu had to think about it for a moment. The only reason why they were referred to as a 'gang' was because they were seen as an illegal organization. With their hacking and illegal use of certain weapons and information, their organization couldn't be supported in the face of the law, and they weren't sure what else to call it other than a gang. Even though some of what they do is _technically_ illegal, the Fairy Tail gang is _not_ for criminals, and Bunny wouldn't seem like too good of a fit for the role at the moment. 

"I'm kinda surprised that you'd ask."

"Eh, I don't like having to work under my boss. I'm just a little curious, is the pay good?" Natsu wanted to ask her more about this "boss" she keeps mentioning, but he figured that'd be a question she isn't ready to answer yet. 

"Yeah. Most people in the gang work a separate job just in case, but I don't. The boss gets 10% of our earnings while 20% goes to the organization as a whole, the rest of the 70% is ours. Depending on the job you take, you get more money, and since we usually take down high-power corrupt businessmen, there's a lot of money involved." Lucy nodded, getting a bit deep in thought before Natsu started again. 

"You'll have to get the tattoo, though." He showed off his arm, flexing his muscles despite it not being necessary. 

Lucy's face turned sultry, looking over the tan, tatted skin that was exposed by his tank top. She noticed he had several tattoos, but the one that caught her interest the most was bright red and on his right shoulder. She grinned again, running her hand over his arm and leaning in close. "I _really_ like it…" She traced over the symbol, her gloved finger cold against his skin. "Tell me more about Fairy Tail."

Natsu tried to ignore her touches, not wanting to let her get under his skin. "Fairy Tail is more than a gang. It's a family. I joined just when I started high-school- the boss and her assistant would take in young people who were headed down the wrong path. I had a rough childhood, and I was doing a lot of fucked up stuff… but I got my shit together thanks to them. Sure some of what we do isn't always legal… but we've always got good intentions… they're good people." 

Lucy thought for a moment, her hand trailing lower until it rested on his thigh. She almost moved it away when she felt him tense, but he quickly relaxed under her touch. "They sound pretty… nice." She smiled at him, holding in a giggle at how ridiculous he looks with the stain still on his cheek. "Do they know of me?"

"A few of them do… and they don't trust you at all." Natsu was taken aback when he saw a flash of sadness overcome her, but she brushed it off just as quick as it came. "I gotta know, the people you target- are they innocent?"

"Hm… I only target those who deserve to be targeted." 

"...What would you say was your most innocent victim?" Natsu honestly didn't expect an answer, so he was surprised when she suddenly stopped touching him to look away, deep in thought.

"...There was a man that touched me… I didn't feel comfortable with him, so I knocked him out and robbed him. He ended up being thrown in a dumpster."

A part of him didn't believe her, but Natsu knew not to underestimate her abilities. Her morals are… questionable, but it seems as though she only goes for those who've done wrong. "I see."

Lucy giggled, going back to feeling him up and leaning in close. "What? You gonna tell your _Fairy_ friends about me?" 

"Probably. I need to know more about you, and since you won't just _tell me_ , I have to go to the gang for help. They won't even bother if they don't trust you, though."

Lucy tsked and shook her head. "Sorry, but life's never that simple, if you want something then you gotta work for it. Good luck though, _no one_ knows everything about me, and there's no way of finding my real name through my 'Bunny' alias." 

"So you're playing hard to get, huh?"

"It's what I do best~"

Natsu fell backwards onto the bed, stretching his arms out and looking up at the ceiling. He wanted nothing more than to continue the conversation, but he just felt so tired, he wasn't sure how long he'd hold out. "Your name…"

He studied her face, closing his eyes to picture something in his mind. "You're French… so you'll probably have a French-sounding name…"

Lucy looked down at him in amusement, giggling quietly as his voice became more and more drowsy. "...What's it start with?" He mumbled, hoping she understood him.

"An L." Natsu's eyes snapped open, gaping at the giggling blonde. He wasn't sure if she _really_ just revealed the first letter of her real name, or if he imagined it in his half-asleep state. He couldn't muster the strength to ask her, resorting to mumbling under his breath. 

"What was that?"

Natsu stared at her in silence. He realized that her smile looks so much prettier when she's laughing, this smile seemed… real. "I…" He trailed off, already forgetting his thought. "What do you want with me?"

Lucy smiled at him as she shrugged. "I just want company." 

_Well, that was clearly a lie_ … It was clear that she had ulterior motives with spending time with him, and although Natsu isn't sure what her intentions are exactly, he knew it'd only be a matter of time before he found out. Even so, he wasn't afraid- he truly believes there's some good in her. 

"You should get some sleep." Natsu furrowed his brows, her smile a little _too_ kind. 

"Huh?"

"You said you were up all night, right? Go ahead, you can use this bed too, I sleep in a different one."

Pushing away his thoughts on just how elaborate this hotel room must be, Natsu shook his head. "You're not gonna… like… kill me in my sleep or nothing?"

" _Tu peux me faire confiance_ , Natsu." 

Even though he had absolutely no idea what she said, Natsu didn't question it, falling asleep right then. He didn't even pick up that she'd used his first name.

As he fell asleep, Lucy ran her hand down his arm one more time before standing up and stretching. She removed her gloves and flexed her fingers, walking through the large room and settling into a desk. She pulled out a journal, reading through her last entry before adding another, titling the page, " _Rejoignez Fairy Tail: plan en cours_ …"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Beau- Handsome  
> *Tu parles français?- You speak French?  
> *Tu peux me faire confiance- You can trust me 
> 
> Please note that I'm not fluent in French, so I won't mind being corrected if I got something wrong.


	5. In My Defense

It took a few minutes for Natsu to fully wake up, blinking rapidly to ease the fog out of his eyes. He sat up and looked around, recognizing that he _really_ had fallen asleep in Bunny's hotel room, and that this morning hadn't been a dream. He yawned loudly before taking off his scarf and tank top, deciding he'd take a shower. She didn't mind him sleeping here, surely she wouldn't mind him washing up, too.

Bunny wasn't anywhere to be seen, and Natsu caught a quick look at the digital clock on the nightstand, seeing that it's currently 1:00pm. So, he got to sleep for a little while, and after finding no physical wounds or abnormalities on himself, he was thankful for Bunny allowing him to do that. 

He left his shirt and scarf on the bed and took off his pants once he was in the bathroom, holding in a gasp as he looked around. The bathroom was fancy and large, and it looked like some couple's suite, making him wonder just how much it'd cost to actually book a room here. 

"Need some clothes?" Natsu flinched, turning around to see the blonde poking her head through the door, thankful that he hadn't removed his boxers just yet. Her eyes trailed over his body, looking over his back tattoos and toned muscles. "I, um…" She didn't want to make it obvious that he effected her, but she couldn't help it. "I can get you something to wear…" 

"Uh, yeah. That'd be great, thanks." Natsu scratched the back of his neck, feeling more and more exposed the more her eyes lingered. He felt a shiver run down his spine at the way she licked her lips before shutting the door, leaving Natsu staring at nothing before he snapped out of his daze. At this rate, she'll be the death of him, one way or another. 

* * *

"I see you took your time, hm?" Lucy joked once she heard the bathroom door open, choking on her food when she was met with a wet, naked Natsu- the towel around his hips being the only thing shielding himself. 

"Yeah, the water gets _way_ hotter here than at my place, it's so cool!" Natsu's grin was contagious, making Lucy stifle a giggle behind her hand. 

"Well, I'd hope so. This hotel is supposed to be the absolute best of the best. I left your clothes in the bathroom, by the way."

Her blush didn't go unnoticed, giving Natsu some newfound confidence. It was good to know that she isn't as invincible to teasing as she leads on. 

"Yeah, I just wanted to dry off a little longer before I got dressed." He walked over to the table she was sitting at, leaning on it and looking down at her. "Whatcha eating?"

"Um…" Lucy mentally slapped herself, peeling her eyes away from his body to look at the food on the table. "I just brought lunch… a couple sandwiches. Hope you like turkey."

"Yeah…" Natsu reached over her to pick up a sandwich. "Thanks." 

Standing up and sitting on the counter top in front of Natsu, Lucy grinned. "You know, I _really_ like your hair. Just thought I'd let you know."

Natsu stilled his eating to run a hand through his freshly blow-dried locks. "Really?"

"Yes, it's one of my favorite colours, _rose_." 

"Rose? I've never heard it described like that…"

"Eh, it's just the French word for 'pink.' It's a really pretty shade, though. Maybe I should dye my hair to look like yours." 

"I think your blonde hair is perfect." Natsu scowled, realizing how cheesy he sounded a little too late. "I mean, it just suits you. Can't imagine you with something else."

He couldn't help but get lost in her eyes, they seemed to light as she smiled. He smiled too, but as he picked his sandwich back up, a thought crossed him. "Wait… you didn't, like, poison this food or nothing, right?"

"What?" Lucy burst into laughter, shaking her head. "Of course not! If I wanted you dead, you'd _been_ dead. Trust me."

"You're just being _too_ nice… seriously, why? Why are you choosing to be so friendly with me?"

She simply shrugged, keeping her smile sweet as she answered, "You said you wanted to be friends, right?"

Natsu knew she was just toying with him at this point, and whatever reason she had to be "friends" with him must be good enough for her to want it to remain a secret. "I've been told you're completely cold-blooded. I just don't understand why people would believe you're like that."

"You sure are curious." Lucy sighed. "The people you work with would probably see me as cold-blooded, the things I do can be a little extreme. In my defense, though, I really _only_ do things to people who deserve it. So far, you haven't done anything to warrant any _punishment_."

Natsu narrowed his eyes at her, as if trying to see through her words. Lucy couldn't help but grin, his determination was honestly cute. No one had ever been this interested in her, everyone was always so ignorant or scared.

"I was just joking about the poison." He mumbled, going back to eating. 

"Huh?" She tilted her head, not quite following him.

"When I asked if you poisoned the food, I wasn't being serious, I just wanted to see what you'd say. I knew it wasn't tampered with, I would've been able to tell." 

"Oh really?" Lucy giggled, he just couldn't be any cuter. "You really think you would've known?"

"Uh, yeah… Did you already forget who I am? You're not the only one who's good at what they do, y'know."

"So, you're a poison-sniffer?" His eye roll made her grin cheekily. 

"Look, it comes in handy when you're dealing with someone who's trying to off you without you knowing. They usually poison drinks, though." 

"Well, I won't lie, that's pretty cool. What else can you do?" She seemed genuinely interested, causing Natsu to get a little flustered. It's been a while since someone wanted to get to know him, but he still has a job to do here. 

"I'll tell you more about myself after I get to know _you_ better." 

"Okay, cheeky little bastard." Lucy's sweet smile contradicted her words. "You'll learn more about me once you earn it."

"What's with this 'earn it' shit? I haven't already earned it yet?"

"Nope. I mean, what's in it for me if I tell you my secrets?" 

Natsu growled, frustrated with the situation. He honestly hadn't even thought about that, just what _would_ she get out of this? He figured it was safe to assume she wouldn't be interested in just his friendship alone. "What do you want from this, then?"

As her sweet smile morphed into a predatory one, Natsu grew weary. She didn't answer, just staring at him with that suggestive look in her eyes. Suddenly, she jumped down from the counter and headed towards the balcony. 

Her lack of response made Natsu more nervous than anything. Is she trying to insinuate what he thinks she is? Only now realizing how naked he is, Natsu sprung up and into the bathroom to change.

While outside, Lucy hoped he caught on. She didn't mind having a little _distraction_ for a bit, as long as he was willing. She pulled out a cigarette, leaning against the glass of the balcony door and looking down at the scenery. This was far from what she'd usually do, but if she was going to get what she _really_ wants, it'd be crucial to get him attached to her like this. Besides, Natsu is seriously attractive, and if he wants something from her, he'll have to give her a little something in return. She's putting off the time she could be using for work to be with _him_ , so it was only fair. 

Her phone began to ring, causing her to sigh loudly. She knew _exactly_ who would be calling her at this time. 

"What do you want?"

_**"Where are you?"** _

"Where else would I be?" She was tempted to hang up, not in the mood to talk to this asshole. 

**_"Your fucking dog-"_ **

Her eyes widened, suddenly interested in what he was saying. 

**_"He chewed up one of my-"_ **

"Don't you _dare_ touch him!" 

**_"Well, you better come here and get him before I-"_ **

"If you touch my baby I'll fucking kill you! I'm being so serious right now-"

**_"Then bring your ass over here and deal with it yourself."_ **

Lucy hung up in frustration, putting out her cigarette and rushing back into the room. Natsu was dressed and sitting up on the counter in the same spot she had been earlier, looking at her in confusion. 

"Look, I have to go-"

"Yeah, I… heard." 

She sighed, doing a once-over around the room to make sure she hadn't left anything suspicious out in the open for him to find. "You can stay however long you want, just make sure you turn all the lights off before you leave." She picked up her purse from the table and took out her keys, though Natsu's question stopped her in her tracks.

"Do you have a son?"

"What?" She whipped around to gape at him, wondering where the hell he'd gotten _that_ idea from. 

"Well, when you were outside, I heard you…"

"You've asked _way_ too many questions today, y'know. And no, I was talking about my dog." Once the realization crossed Natsu's face, Lucy realized she didn't have time to elaborate, rushing out the door and to the nearest elevator. 

Now alone, Natsu decided to clean up a bit. It was kinda odd, he walked out the bathroom and heard her shouting about how she'd kill someone if they touched her "baby." Knowing she was talking about her dog didn't really clear things up, either. Who could threaten her dog, and _why_ would they. It seemed as though anyone else would be too afraid to do something like that, and this person not only had her number, but threatened her as well. And as she left, it seemed like she already knew where she'd have to go to deal with it, too.

Natsu groaned in frustration. He decided that the next time he sees her, he'll get her to talk, no matter if she wanted to keep her "5 questions a day" rule. He didn't want to be too forceful, but he's never been known to be patient. Maybe he could convince her into opening up by giving her what she insinuated that she wanted.

The thought of doing such _things_ had Natsu's face turning bright red. It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea, he definitely couldn't see himself being able to reject her offer… but… 

_Wait'll she finds out I've got absolutely no game…_ Natsu groaned. Having such little experience with this kind of thing made him anxious, if that's what she wants then she'll likely end up disappointed…

He suddenly remembered Mira's words, how she warned him not to have relations with Bunny. Gramps said something about that, too, but at this point, Natsu was confident that they don't know what they're talking about. Surely when he shows up at the headquarters again, they'll try to talk to him about how "dangerous" Bunny is some more, but he'd defend his decision to trust her. 

He really does believe that there's some good that can come out from this.


	6. Explain Yourself

The day seemed to be a little brighter for Natsu. He hadn't been himself in so long, making a new friend really made him feel good. Sure, it may be too soon to classify Bunny as a "friend" exactly, but still. It seemed like she was interested in meeting up with him regularly, too, as long as he gave her _something_ in return. 

The idea made him a mix of flustered and anxious. She hadn't specified, but Natsu was sure he knew what she was hinting at. At least he hoped he knew, otherwise that'd be pretty embarrassing…

Walking into the Fairy Tail hideout with a face covered in a deep red flush was Natsu's first mistake, his second was not realizing all eyes were on him, and he almost bumped into someone on his way towards the hall.

"Natsu Dragneel."

 _Oh shit…_ He looked up, meeting the redhead's fierce stare. "Hey, Erza…"

"You've got some explaining to do, mister." 

"Ah, great…"

"So, care to explain what happened this morning?" It was just now that Natsu realized Mirajane was right behind Erza, and it looked like she'd been crying. It didn't take a genius to figure out she told Erza and likely everyone else about their conversation earlier. 

"Uh, what do you mean?"

Erza crossed her arms and glared, not liking how he was trying to beat around the bush. "Where were you last night? In fact, what were you doing just now that'd warrant a blush as strong as the one you walked in with?" 

"Look, Erza, on the job I had last night, I met this girl-"

"And you understand that was a bad idea, right?" 

Natsu had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. As he looked at Mira, and then around the room to see everyone staring at him, he suddenly felt a fire in his belly. Erza be damned, he's heard enough of this bullshit. 

"Let me tell you something..." His stern tone had Mira's eyes widening, but Erza's scowl only deepened. 

"...I'm tired of you all acting so hypocritical! I think everyone deserves a chance, I saw something in that girl, okay? Whatever happened to our morals? Hell, if it wasn't for _my_ brother-"

"Calm down."

"Calm down? No! I'm tired of-"

"Calm. Down." 

Suddenly, Natsu's senses came back to him, and he noticed Erza's warning. It was never good to piss her off, and guessing from her voice, he's on thin ice. Shutting up would definitely be the best decision. 

"Natsu, I understand that you want to help her, but some people are beyond help." Natsu let himself roll his eyes this time, but he allowed her to finish talking.

"Mirajane and I have done very extreme jobs here, much more extreme than yours. We've had leads go completely missing, all because 'Bunny' had gotten to them first. She's beyond dangerous, Natsu. There's no way she doesn't know about who you are, there's a chance she's trying to use you to do something to us, do you understand? I seriously wouldn't trust her if I were you." 

Natsu had to let himself take a few deep breaths, not wanting his frustration to overcome him. He felt pretty offended, she was basically insulting his abilities as a member of this gang. Their job is to take down the shady, conniving people who managed to get past law enforcement, so to be accused of not being able to do something as simple as telling if someone's a liar… It honestly sucked.

"Where were you just now, Natsu?" Mira's small sniffle confirmed she'd been crying, and now his anger was replaced with remorse. She's a tough woman, but her heart is huge, and he honestly hates the fact that she's so worried over him. 

"I saw her again this morning." Natsu felt his heart drop when Mira looked away from him, her disappointment apparent.

"I thought you were going to go home and sleep…"

"I was, I promise I was, Mira." He would hate for her to think he lied. "I was on my way home and she called me again... I left something at her hotel the last time I was there and I went back to get it. I ended up taking a nap there."

"...I just don't understand how you're so comfortable with her already…" 

"He's probably just trying to get his dick wet."

Gray's snarky comment had Natsu turning around to glare at him. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about, asshole."

"I dunno, Salamander." Now Gajeel decided to add his two cents in. "You were definitely making eyes at her back at the bar."

"I just thought she was cool, okay? And I wanted to see if what you said was true, it had nothing to do with me being attracted to her or something!" 

"Sure…"

"Boys." Erza stopped them before they inevitably broke out into a fight. "It doesn't matter _why_ you want to trust this woman, Natsu. You just need to understand that you're not only risking your own safety by talking to her, but the entire gang's as well." 

"Okay, fine, can I go now?" Natsu was more than done with this conversation. He wouldn't be able to convince them, just as they wouldn't be able to convince him. 

"...Alright." The girls stepped aside, allowing him to walk down the hall. They knew better than to drag this along. If Natsu made his decision, there was no easy way to change his mind. He'll just have to learn through trial and error, and all they could do was hope that the damage wouldn't be too bad. 

Natsu grumbled to himself once he got into his office room. Recently, the entire gang has been treating him differently. They act like he can't hold his own, like he's some vulnerable little kid that constantly needs someone holding his hand. It's frustrating to say the least, and now would be his chance to prove them wrong. 

* * *

He was wrong. So, very wrong. 

Natsu was sure he had no idea what he's been doing for the past 3 weeks. He was completely out of his element here, having too little experience with research work. 

He knows he is mostly brawn- going on jobs and doing the dirty work. Someone like Levy or Mira would be the ones to look up information about a certain lead, but Mira's completely against Natsu's mission to figure Bunny out and Levy is on maternity leave. 

Groaning loudly, Natsu decided to call it quits. The only good thing that came from this is the fact that the gang stopped breathing down his neck for a bit. They'd all assumed he stopped thinking of Bunny… _They probably think that I've gone back to being unproductive, unmotivated, unhappy… just as I've always been ever since-_

"Hey, Natsu! What're you doing here so late?" 

Natsu sighed, but he put on a smile. "Hey, just… cleaning up a bit. Is it really that late?"

"Yep, you've got your appointment today, remember?" 

"Oh shit, I totally forgot… Thanks for reminding me, Lis." 

"No problem!" Lisanna's smile was strained as she looked over Natsu's form. He looked awfully exhausted, and it was only 6pm. Although it had been a huge problem within the gang when they found out Natsu had been pursuing one of the most dangerous women in the criminal world, she could tell there was a huge difference in his attitude 3 weeks ago. 

Natsu has been so depressed lately, and when he found this lead, he seemed so much brighter. It was like he finally went back to the old Natsu, he had something he wanted to accomplish… but that went down in flames. She didn't want to go against her sister's concerns and help him with this, so all Lisanna could do was watch him slowly lose that slither of motivation he'd been missing for the past few years. 

"...Wait, Natsu…"

"Yeah?"

"Are you… okay?" 

Natsu stared at her in silence. Being one of his childhood friends, he knew Lisanna has been one of the people who's most worried about him. Like her sister, she has a big heart, but it wouldn't do her any good to stress over his health. 

"I'm alright. See ya." 

As he left, Lisanna decided to snoop around a little, looking over his desk to see what he'd been up to. It wasn't like Natsu to be so quiet and deciding to stay in and look things up rather than deal with things on the front lines. Whenever he was feeling unhappy, he'd usually indulge in dangerous work to make himself feel productive, and she worried that he'd given up altogether. 

It wouldn't be easy, and she may end up being scolded for this, but maybe she could try and talk to the others. At least her siblings might listen to her, although Mira seems very set on her decision… 

It just seemed like it'd be better in the long run if the gang allowed Natsu to search for Bunny. Sometimes, all he needed was a little support.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Natsu."

"Hey, Ms. Anna."

"So, how've you been this month?" Anna smiled, and nodded her head when Natsu answered, "Same as always." This has been a common occurrence, every monthly appointment with him started the same. Though, one thing that worried her was how sleep-deprived he looks.

"Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

Natsu knew he looked worse than usual today, she had every reason to be concerned. "I've just… been working a lot…" 

"Have you been working longer hours lately?" 

"...I guess you could say that…" Anna didn't know what he did for work exactly, so he couldn't outright vent his problems to her. "I've just felt unproductive lately…"

"How so?"

"I've been kinda distracted… and my coworkers have been giving me a hard time… I'm just tired."

"Well, what's been distracting you lately?" 

"There was this girl…" As Natsu remembered the last time he'd seen Bunny, he glanced up at his therapist, Ms. Anna waiting patiently for him to continue. When he took in her brown eyes and blonde hair, he realized she looks uncannily similar to _her_ …

"Your last name… it's Heartfilia, right?"

Anna was a little taken aback with his sudden question, but she nodded and gestured towards the name plate on her desk. "Why do you ask?" 

"I went to a hotel… I think it had 'Heartfilia' in the name…"

"Ah yes, _L'hôtel Heartfilia_ … it's a family business."

Natsu's eyes widened, looking at her incredulously. "Wait… You're French?" 

"Well, I was born and raised here, but yes, I'm French. Is there a reason why you brought this up?" 

"...The girl I met- the reason I've been distracted lately- She looks a lot like you, now that I think about it. And we met at that hotel, too… It just seems very… ironic…"

Anna's face was oddly concerning as she looked away in thought for a minute. He wasn't sure if he'd said something wrong or what, but she didn't seem to relax until she spoke up again. 

"And… would you say you regret meeting up with her?"

"Um… I didn't at first, I thought maybe we'd be friends. It felt good talking to someone like that, I haven't made a friend in so long… but none of my friends like her... and I haven't heard from her in 3 weeks…"

"You've been beating yourself up about this, haven't you?" 

"Yeah… I know it sounds pretty pathetic… I only saw her twice, and we hardly even talked… I'm just disappointed, and I feel dumb for expecting something more when she's literally a stranger…"

"Well, for one, you aren't pathetic or dumb. You value friendship more than anything, because it's one of the only aspects in your life that has been consistent for you, right?"

"...Right."

"And, it sounds to me like you were looking forward to having something more with this girl."

"I… I was." Natsu groaned and held his head in his hands. Until now, he believed he just wanted to learn more about Bunny out of curiosity, but their last meeting made him think he'd have a chance for something more with her. He couldn't even understand why, this is the first time he's ever been attracted to someone like this. 

"I just don't know what I'm doing with my life…"

"Natsu…"

* * *

"Hey, buddy." Natsu smiled as his cat hopped in his lap. "You've probably been super bored without me, huh?" 

Happy meowed in response and cuddled into him. "Wanna watch me play tonight?" 

He didn't wait for a response as he picked up his controller and turned on his Playstation. Scrolling through his downloaded games, Natsu felt his eyes grow heavy with exhaustion. Something told him that he should stay awake for a bit, he usually hated falling asleep right after his therapy appointments. He always ended up having nightmares.

"We've really hit rock bottom, huh, Happy?"

"Meow." 

Natsu chuckled at the adorable kitten, thankful he had his comfort animal with him. Having Happy around made things so much easier. Both of them jolted when the phone in Natsu's pocket started ringing, and he quickly declined, not in the mood to talk to anyone. 

He rolled his eyes when it immediately started ringing again, and decided to just answer and get it over with.

"What?"

**_"First of all, is that any way to answer the phone? Geez…"_ **

Natsu covered his mouth with his hand, not believing his ears. After 3 weeks of nothing…

**_"Hello?"_ **

"Oh my God…"

**_"Listen, I want you to meet me at the hotel tonight. Wear something nice."_ **

Natsu nodded, but then remembered that she couldn't see him. Before he could say a word, she hung up, leaving him alone with Happy and his thoughts. 

"She… she didn't forget about me…" A huge grin spread across his face. "She didn't forget!" 

He hopped up on the coach and started laughing, feeling like he was on cloud 9. Happy joined him, meowing and prancing around. "She wants to see me again!" 

_..._

"Oh shit… she wants to _see_ me… _again_ …" 


	7. It's a Date

"Ah shit… something nice? What does she mean by that? Fuck…" Natsu grumbled as he rummaged through his closet. He had a couple suits that he'd wear on certain jobs, but he wasn't sure if it'd be too over-the-top. "Ugh, why did she hang up so quickly!?" 

There was a knock at his door, causing him to take a break from finding an outfit to go answer it. 

Lisanna smiled once the door opened, surprised to see that Natsu looked much better than he had earlier. "Hey! How did your appointment go?"

"Uh, same as usual."

"Well, there's something I wanted to talk to you about…" 

"Okay, come in." Natsu checked his clock once they walked in, realizing that Bunny hadn't even given him a time. "What's up?"

"So, you've taken an interest in 'Bunny,' hm?" 

"Huh?" Her question had caught him off guard. Just as he hadn't heard from the woman herself in 3 weeks, he also hadn't heard anyone mention her either. Especially Lisanna, he assumed she was one of the ones that had pity and didn't bother taking the piss out of him. 

"Bunny… That _is_ what she goes by, right?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah… why?" 

"Well, _I_ don't think you're making a mistake." 

Now Natsu was completely lost, but he nodded anyway. "Uh…"

"I mean," Lisanna realized she probably confused him, having not brought any of this up with him before. "I've never seen you so motivated than you were then… and everyone put you down for it…"

"Eh, I guess they were just looking out for me…"

"But you didn't want that, right? Look, I'm just here to tell you that… if you want to continue following this lead, I'll support you. And I won't tell the others, promise." 

Classic Lis, always so supportive. "You promise?"

"Yep!" 

Natsu stared at her intensely, making sure she wasn't being dishonest. "Well… She just called me, like, 30 minutes ago."

"Eh..?" Lisanna's eyes widened. "Really? Does she call you often?"

"No, I haven't heard from her in weeks, she just suddenly called me and asked me to meet her… and I'm gonna do it." 

Well, that explains why he'd been so dejected lately. She didn't know that he'd completely lost contact with Bunny, but at least he's talked to her now. "What do you think is gonna happen when you go see her?"

"No idea… she just told me to wear something nice and then hung up." 

"Wait, so... she asked you on a date?" 

"A date..? Nah, she wouldn't… Well… I dunno…" Natsu was slightly embarrassed with his cluelessness. He was convinced Bunny was doing this on purpose, keeping secretive and mysterious. Maybe she was testing him…

"Where are you meeting up?"

"Her super high-class hotel. I can't really pronounce it, but it's like 'Heartfilia Hotel' or something…" 

"Oh~" He grew weary of her cheeky grin. "That place is _so_ fancy! It's _definitely_ a date!" She hopped up excitedly, grabbing onto his shoulders and shaking him slightly. "This is big news!"

Natsu felt himself blush, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. "Or… maybe not. She _always_ dresses up 'nice,' at least from what I've seen. And she's just the owner of the hotel, that's where we met up the last 2 times. She could be planning something entirely different, y'know?"

"Hm… but you _want_ it to be a date, don't you?" 

Now there was no question if his face was bright red, causing him to duck his head into his scarf. That seemed to be the perfect reaction, Lisanna squealing in excitement. "This is great! I never thought I'd see the day-"

"Oi…"

"You probably need my help, right?" Lisanna was already making her way to Natsu's room. "I bet you haven't figured out what to wear yet."

"No… I was just gonna wear a suit."

"Maybe you should wear just the dress shirt and slacks… oh, have you got flowers for her?"

"Flowers..?"

"Yes! You can't meet a girl for a date without flowers!" Lisanna shook her head. "You really are helpless." She reached up and ruffled his hair teasingly. The fact that Natsu is finally going out and dating filled her with pride. Ever since that night back in high-school, he'd never been the same. Everyone has been dying to see him go back to his old self, and this was a step in the right direction. _Gray would be so happy to hear this!_

"What if it's not even a date? I don't wanna look stupid by getting my hopes up…" 

"Any girl will be flattered to receive flowers! You get ready and I'll go get some for you." Just as she was about to walk out, Lisanna whipped around, her face dusted in a light blush. "Wait… do you have, um… _condoms_?" 

"What?" Not only had she whispered almost incoherently, but Natsu hadn't even thought of _those_ in a long time. Actually, hearing Lis bring them up made him a little uneasy, it was just so uncharacteristic of her.

"Y'know… maybe you might need them."

"I doubt that… but yeah, I got some."

"Wait, seriously? Why would _you_ have condoms?" Not only has Natsu been very antisocial as of late, there's no way he'd have enough game to get _that_ far with someone before.

Natsu rolled his eyes at her expression. "Quit acting so surprised. Cana gave them to me on my birthday." Ah, that made much more sense. Cana is notorious for gifting unnecessarily suggestive things.

"Okay, I'm gonna be about 15 minutes!" Lisanna rushed out of his room and nearly out the door, stopping suddenly to turn around and ask, "Wait, you wouldn't happen to know her favorite colour, would you?"

"Uh, she said she likes pink-"

"Pink! I'm on it!" 

Once Lisanna was out and about, Natsu released a long sigh. He was grateful she was the only one willing to help, but it was clear that she's getting her hopes up a little _too_ high. His battle with depression hasn't been a pretty one, and Lis is one of the few that watched him go through it firsthand. Of course she would want him to pursue Bunny, this is a huge change for him, but Natsu's more concerned about what Mira would do if she found out… and if he's gonna make a fool out of himself tonight. 

* * *

Natsu stumbled out of the Uber and towards the hotel's entrance, clutching his stomach and praying that he didn't spill his guts. Lisanna had _insisted_ he took an Uber because they spent 30 minutes discussing the "do's and don'ts" of dating, and she said it'd be bad if he showed up late to his first date. It's not like Bunny had given him a time to meet up, but he gave in, and is now seriously regretting it. 

"Hey stranger~" 

_Don't throw up don't throw up don't throw_ _up..._ "H-hey…" As he glanced up, Natsu forgot about his upset stomach for a minute. She looked amazing, just as he remembered. Her short, velvet blue dress suited her just right. He hadn't realized just how much he missed the eye candy.

"What's wrong?" It wasn't hard for Lucy to tell he was holding in a barf, his skin clammy and pale and face almost green. "Are you sick?"

"I just… need a minute…" 

Lucy gently grabbed his wrist and led him into the hotel, sitting him down on one of the couches in the entrance lobby. "Why'd you take a car here if you get motion sick?"

"I wanted to get here fast…" Finally feeling his insides relax, Natsu's head jolted up. "Wait… how'd you know about my motion sickness..?"

Lucy simply winked in response as she helped him to stand. "You didn't have to hurry here, you know. I've got _all_ night~"

"O-oh, yeah, um…" Natsu decided to ignore her suggestive tone, presenting the bouquet of pink roses he had. "These are for you…" He looked away with a blush, still nervous about how she'd react.

"You got me r-roses?" Her surprised voice gave Natsu the confidence to look at her, taking in her blush. He felt a sense of pride from being able to pull that reaction from her, finding it safe to assume that she doesn't get flustered often. 

"Yeah…"

"Thank you…" Lucy took the flowers and smelt them. "That's so kind of you." No one had ever gotten her flowers, and she found the gesture totally sweet. He didn't even know her reasons for inviting him over here, and yet he'd decided to get her a gift…

_Oh, this is gonna be real easy…_

"Will you take these to my room?" She asked as she waved down a staff member. Once the flowers were taken care of, Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand and pulled him close to kiss his cheek. "I've missed you, y'know~"

"R-really?"

"Mhm! Did _you_ miss _me_?"

Natsu felt like this was a trick question, but even so, he couldn't help but be honest. "I did… What happened these past few weeks?"

"I was _busy_. But, I've got some free time now. There's some things I wanna talk to you about, and I figured we should do it over dinner."

"Like a date?"

"Oh, it _is_ a date." Lucy batted her eyelashes, looking at Natsu with an innocent expression. "Well, if that's alright with _you_ , I mean…"

"Oh yeah!" He cleared his throat, realizing he probably sounded too eager. "That's, uh, fine." 

Lucy smiled brightly at him as she intertwined their fingers and guided him further into the hotel. "There's a very high-grade, 3 Michelin star restaurant here. Actually, the restaurant was here first while the hotel ended up being built on top of it. So many people would come from all over the world to eat here, so they decided to add the accommodations." 

Natsu was impressed, she says she owns this building, so she must be totally loaded. If she has such a huge, successful hotel and restaurant, then _why_ would she be interested in doing bad things to get dirty money..?

The two made it to the far end of the entrance, the doors to the restaurant and a long line coming into view. There was a large sign that read " _Amour et Chance_ " with a smaller sign that said "Love & Lucky" beneath it. Natsu had always known there were some top star restaurants around town, but he'd never gotten remotely close to one, so this all became so exciting to him. If there's one thing that hasn't changed throughout the years, it's his appetite, and he's not one to discredit a good meal.

"Come, _my_ booth is in the very back. It's secluded from the rest of the restaurant, so you don't have to worry about anyone listening in." Just as she said, Lucy took him to a lone booth in the very back of the restaurant. Surprisingly, the lighting seemed better here, there was a perfect view of the sunset through the windows. Natsu decided to sit across from her on the cushion seats, and a waitress came to their aid surprisingly fast. 

" _Bonjour, que voulez-vous boire_?" The pink haired waitress smiled, and Lucy gestured to Natsu as she responded, "In English, please."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She bowed dramatically. "Please forgive me!"

"It's fine, Aries…" Lucy facepalmed before turning to her date. "Don't mind her, I promise I'm not hard on my employees."

"Yes! Working here is great, I'm so sorry if I gave the impression that it isn't!"

"You don't have to keep apologizing…"

"Right, sorry for apologizing so much!" 

Lucy sighed as she shook her head. Hopefully her awkward staff wouldn't make things harder for her. "I would just like a water, by the way."

"And for you, sir?" Natsu nearly missed the question, having been distracted with how strangely adorable Bunny looked when she was annoyed. "Uh, red wine, please."

Once the waitress left to get their drinks, Lucy took the opportunity to pretend to adjust the neckline of her dress, flaunting her cleavage in the process. When that garnered the right amount of attention, she then ran her foot over one of Natsu's legs. 

"So, I'm sure you've got plenty of questions, hm?"

Natsu felt himself begin to short-circuit from her touch again. There was just something about her that he found irresistible. "Y-yeah… I've got lots of questions."

Lucy gave him a sweet smile as she continued to play footsie with him. "I've got a few questions, too."

"You do?"

"Yep, like for starters, why did you bring _condoms_ with you tonight?" 


	8. Skin on Skin pt.1

"Why did you bring condoms with you tonight?" 

Natsu stared at her blankly as a flush slowly made its way across his face. He had 2 options here; tell the honest truth, or try and use this as an excuse to flirt. He panicked a little when he realized he'd gone too long without answering her. 

"Uh, because, well…"

Her gaze was predatory, reminding Natsu of the last time they saw each other. Just as he was about to give in, his eyes narrowed. "Hold on, how'd you know I have condoms on me?"

"I'm not an idiot, _mignonne_. I always check the pockets of everyone I come across, just a habit I acquired over the years." 

"Okay, but _when_ did you do that? I didn't notice anything, and nothing's ever been able to slip past me like this…"

Lucy frowned, they were getting off track now! "I'll tell you, but after you answer _my_ question. What made you think to bring those here?"

"Uh…" Now Natsu wasn't sure if she was upset that he brought them or not. "Well, you never know…"

"Let me guess," She tapped her chin in thought, studying his nervous expression. "You freaked out after I called you, and had a friend come over to help you get ready. I bet your friend helped you pick out what to wear, the flowers, and also advised you to bring protection, right?" 

"Oh, wow… that's actually pretty accurate, except, Lis came by unexpectedly."

"Well, you can inform 'Lis' that you won't be needing the condoms. I'm STD free and on birth control." 

Natsu felt like he'd melt right then. It was clear now what her intentions are, and he didn't know what to make of it. Did he come here hoping she wanted something more? Yes, definitely. Does that mean he'd been prepared for her to outright confirm it? Absolutely not.

Just then, Aries returned with their drinks and asked them if they were ready to order. It just occurred to Natsu that he hadn't even looked at the menu, and his face fell when he picked it up. It was entirely in French. 

"Oh, my bad, I'll help you order." Lucy leaned in closer to him. "What would you like? Beef, chicken, seafood..?" 

Natsu almost told her he'd want everything, but he remembered how Lis told him not to pig out if they ate together. He didn't wanna ruin his chances and turn Bunny off, so he held his tongue. "Just get me whatever you get." 

"Okay, 2 of the usuals, then. Appetizers?" 

As much as he wanted to indulge in the food here, Natsu knew that the less they ordered, the quicker they'd be done and be able to move onto… _other_ activities. "No, thanks."

"That's all, then." When the waitress left, Lucy turned to Natsu, propping her face up with her hand. "I checked your pockets when I brought you in to sit on the couch. I'm trained to be able to move swiftly and quietly so I go unnoticed." Natsu nodded, having already forgotten that he'd even asked her about that. 

"Oh, and sorry about the menu. I've only eaten here with family, some of which don't speak English. The menus at my booth have just always been in French."

"Nah, it's cool. I bet your 'usual' will be super good."

"Mhm… well, you've technically already asked 4 questions tonight-" 

"Actually, I'm over the whole '5 questions' thing. I'd rather get answers _now_." 

His sudden confidence made Lucy blush again. "Yeah?" She let her hand trail over his when he went to grab his wine glass. "You know, if you want me to give you answers, you'll have to give me _something_ , too… Remember what we talked about last time?" 

Natsu's confidence dropped when he remembered, feeling himself start to sweat. He looked away as he scratched the back of his neck, wishing he had his scarf to bury his face in. "About that…"

"Hm?"

"Look, I'm not very… I mean, I've never… I've never gone _that_ far with someone before…"

"Uh… what?" Lucy looked at him in confusion. "Why're you telling me that?"

"Well, y'know… you might not, er, I might not be up to your standards…"

"Wait, what are you talking about!?" 

_For someone who's always flirting with me, you really can't take a hint, huh?_ "When you said you wanted 'something' in return, I assumed, or, you _insinuated_ that you want sex…"

"I _did_!?" Lucy gasped dramatically. "What made you interpret it like _that_!?" 

_Now_ Natsu was completely, utterly embarrassed, feeling like he jumped the gun here. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I just… the way you looked at me, you know..?" He groaned when she burst into laughter, wishing he could just disappear. 

"Oh my God, you're literally the cutest! I'm just messing with you, _chéri_!" Lucy reached over to cup his cheek. "You're so hot when you blush, I just couldn't help myself…" 

"Quit teasin' me…" Natsu frowned at her, but he got distracted by the way she bit her lip. "I… I'm completely clueless about this, okay?"

"I know~" Lucy stroked his cheek with her thumb. "That's what I like about you, it's so endearing." Her eyes darkened, the cool fabric of her gloves sending shivers down Natsu's spine. He hadn't even noticed she was wearing them, her long bell sleeves completely hid her skin up to her hands. He silently wondered why she'd be wearing gloves now, but he figured he could ask her later. 

"Bunny…" Lucy's expression fell when he addressed her like that. "I've never… done _anything_ like this before…"

"We don't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with, I don't want you to feel pressured…"

"I want to…" Natsu smiled at her, knowing he was being true to himself now. "I _really_ do, I just don't wanna disappoint-"

Suddenly, Natsu's words were silenced when Lucy pulled him in for a kiss. His eyes were wide before they fluttered closed, and he allowed her to open his lips and add her tongue. He gave her full control since she was the only experienced one here, relishing in the feeling of her tongue against his. 

Lucy nibbled at his lip as they parted, holding in a giggle at the way his lips were stained red from her lipstick now. "You taste like wine." She mumbled, and she let out a squeak when he pulled her in again, crashing his lips against hers and taking the lead this time. 

Natsu held her face as he tilted his head, wanting to taste and feel her again. The position of them leaning over the table was a bit awkward, but he couldn't find it in himself to quit. She invaded his senses, and it felt like they were the only two people in the world. Never had he ever felt something like this. 

Lucy caressed his forearms for a moment, allowing herself to indulge a bit before she suddenly pushed him away. His face was flushed and dazed, and before he could get the wrong idea, Lucy panted, "Not here, we're in public." 

Natsu gazed around the restaurant, having completely forgotten where he was for a minute. "Fuck…" He mumbled under his breath and ran his hand through his hair, his eyebrow raising when he noticed Bunny watching his every move.

"Damn…" She whispered, but she quickly composed herself. "You're _so_ impatient, you know that?"

"Eh? _You're_ the one that kissed me first…"

Lucy shrugged, grinning suggestively. "Yeah… I didn't say being impatient was a _bad_ thing, did I?"

Natsu had to stop himself from reaching over and kissing her again as the waitress returned with their food. The two didn't acknowledge her, staring into each other's eyes intensely, both having the same idea. Aries looked between them before she cleared her throat, "Um… would you prefer it if I packed this up to-go, madam?"

"Yeah… do that…" Lucy mumbled, only half hearing what she said. She stood, grabbing Natsu's wrist and taking him with her. The two practically sprinted out of the restaurant and up the stairs, their eagerness clouding all their other senses. When they got to the topmost floor, Lucy pushed Natsu onto her room's door and jumped on him.

Natsu's reflexes were fast as he caught her, holding her by her ass as she wrapped her legs around his waist. This position made her dress ride up, giving him complete access to her plush flesh as they made out. The two ravished each other, kissing and feeling each other up as much as they could. 

" _J'ai besoin d'ouvrir cette porte stupide…_ " Lucy mumbled to herself, hopping off of Natsu to reach behind him and open the door. The two nearly stumbled in, quickly returning to their make out session. Natsu reached behind to squeeze and knead her ass, hoping she'd let him carry her again, but Lucy had other ideas. 

Her hand fell to his crotch, stroking his clothed bulge. Natsu's breath hitched in his throat, growing more and more excited about what she might do to him. "B-bunny-"

"Shhh..." She kissed him gently. "Don't call me that." 

Natsu was confused, he didn't know her real name, so it wasn't like he had anything else to call her, but he'd worry about that later. Right now, all his attention was on her as she slowly worked his belt off. Just as she undid his zipper, there was a loud, high-pitched bark, causing them to jolt away from each other. 

The bark came from a little white dog, who seemed extremely excited as he pranced around. "Dammit, Plue!" Lucy picked the toy poodle up and stared into his eyes. " _Tu nous as interrompus_!" 

Natsu watched in silence as she carried the dog away to another room, feeling completely flustered at the thought of how close they just were. He was seconds away from getting his first handjob! 

Not willing to wait, Natsu quickly got his shirt off as he made his way to the main bedroom. His pants soon followed, and now he was in nothing but his boxers as he sat on the bed. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long for Bunny to join him, the blonde also removing her clothes. 

He stared at her in awe, the way the moonlight shined on her skin was breath-taking, and he knew he'd never be able to get her image out of his head. It was just so bizarre that a woman like her would take any kind of interest in him, and he found himself feeling extremely lucky. Here is this goddess of a woman stripping in front of him, and Natsu suddenly felt unworthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Mignonne- Cute/Cutie  
> *Chéri- Darling  
> *J'ai besoin d'ouvrir cette porte stupide- I need to open this stupid door  
> *Tu nous as interrompus- You interrupted us


	9. Skin on Skin pt.2 (NSFW)

She kept her black, shoulder length latex gloves on, dressed in navy blue lace lingerie. Natsu wished he could take a picture, she was just too stunning for words, but he settled on just keeping this moment memorized in his head. 

Lucy fought the urge to cover herself as she approached him. She knew her body was covered in scars, and it'd be best for her to act fast so he wouldn't notice. As she sat in his lap, she noticed that he started sweating. 

"Hey… we don't have to go any further. I promise I don't mind just kissing…" Lucy pouted. Doing this would make things easier, but she wouldn't want him to end up regretting anything. 

"Please don't stop." Natsu grabbed onto her hips and subtly rocked her against himself. "I want you. I'm just a little nervous."

"If it makes you feel any better, this is a first for me, too." She hadn't been planning on admitting this, but things would only be fun if he was comfortable. "I've never had sex with a _man_ before… so you don't have to worry about my 'expectations.' I wanna make you feel good, y'know? We're both learning here." 

Natsu nodded, moving closer to kiss her along her neck before mumbling into her skin, "I know you said we don't have to, but could we use a condom anyways?"

"Of course." Lucy pushed him down to lay on the edge of the bed, kissing him from his cheek down to his chest, leaving ruby red lipstick in her wake. When she got low enough, she ran her hands over his boxers and full hard-on, stroking him through his clothes. He groaned, having had enough teasing, and she quickly got the hint. 

She eased him out of his boxers and muffled a gasp when she saw what he was working with. Her face broke out in a blush that rivaled his, now it was her turn to be nervous. She really hadn't had _anything_ of his size inside of her, and right now her biggest concern was making sure he'd fit. It wasn't necessarily just his length, but his girth…

"Are you just gonna stare?" Despite his blush, Natsu looked smug. He knew he was bigger than average, but he didn't think he'd get such a reaction. _So, she really isn't experienced with this…_

"You're really… _thick_." Lucy ran her finger down his member, silently hoping that her gloves didn't feel weird to him. "I don't know if I can take it."

The way she looked up at him and bit her lip made Natsu believe she was only trying to feed his confidence, and he decided to play along. "Yeah? Do you think you'd be able to fit it in your _mouth_ at least?"

"Oh, I _know_ I can fit it _there_." To prove her point, Lucy stroked him twice before sucking on his tip. She swirled her tongue around him, licking his full member up and down before taking as much of him in her mouth as she could. 

Natsu, having not expected her to go down on him that fast, jolted to sit up and his hand threaded through her hair. The sensation of her hot mouth around his dick had him biting back a moan as he subtly pulled at her golden strands. Lucy was satisfied with his reaction, bobbing her head up and down and hollowing out her cheeks.

"F-fuck…" Now Natsu moaned freely, hoping it'd encourage her, and luckily it did just that. Lucy deepthroated him until she gagged, using her hand to stroke the parts she couldn't reach. The way he started bucking his hips made her think he might finish already, and she wasn't having that. Still stroking him, Lucy took him out her mouth to reach over to get his pants and take one of the condoms out. 

"Does my mouth feel good?"

"Fuck yeah…" Natsu wanted her to take him again, but when he saw her opening the condom, he realized that what's to come would be _much_ better.

"You want me to keep using my mouth on you?" 

"I… I wanna be inside you…"

Lucy sat in his lap once she rolled the condom over his member. She caressed his face, loving the way his skin was covered in her markings. "You're so sexy…" She slipped her panties to the side and gripped his dick. "I've been wanting to do this since the night I met you." 

She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as she lowered herself onto him. Luckily, she was wet enough so that it didn't hurt, but _holy shit_ was she full! She rocked her hips, both of them letting out low sighs at the sensation. 

"You feel so f-fucking good!" Natsu grabbed onto her hips as he fought the urge to thrust. "So fucking tight!"

"Mmm… N-Natsu…" Lucy whimpered as she gently pushed him to lay down completely. "I love the way you fill me up…" 

Natsu's head fell back when she lifted up and thrusted back down, and it didn't take long for her to find a steady rhythm. "Look at me." She didn't have to tell him twice, Natsu looked up to watch her bounce on top of him. She was just removing her bra, throwing the clothing away and letting her chest move freely. "I wanna hear you."

Lucy squeezed around him, causing both of them to moan under their breath. She could tell he was shy about making noise, but she wanted to hear every sound he had to offer. Her hands came down to grip his shoulders so she could hold herself as she started bouncing harder and faster. 

"Oh shit!"

"Ah yesss~" Lucy bit her lip, bucking and rocking her hips erratically. "Yes!"

"Goddamn… You look so hot bouncin' on my cock…" Natsu's encouragement had her pushing her limits, and the sound of their skin slapping against each other filled the room. His grip on her hips tightened as he began bucking up to meet her thrust, this time not holding back his moans. "Fuck!"

" _Merde_! Y-yes! Just like that!" Lucy felt herself nearing the edge, but she wanted more of him. "Harder!" 

Natsu complied, holding her tighter and bucking up as hard as he could. He seemed to be doing very well, if her squeals of pleasure were any indication. "Fuck! Fuck me~" Lucy reached down to rub at her clit, and that was the last straw before she was cumming around him. " _Shit_!" 

When she stilled on top of him, Natsu decided he was at his limit too, thrusting once more before filling the condom with his cum. He felt like he'd pass out, laying spread out on the bed and panting as she eased off of him.

Lucy laid beside him for a minute to catch her breath, but quickly stood and reached into the nightstand drawer to pull out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She sat on the bed and lit one, rolling her eyes when she noticed Natsu's face scrunch up. 

Ever since he quit smoking, Natsu couldn't stand the smell of cigarettes. He wouldn't make any passive aggressive comments, but he wished she'd take it outside. He decided to bare through it, this was _her_ hotel room, she could smoke if she wanted.

"That was good." Lucy mumbled as she exhaled a puff of smoke. " _Really_ good." 

"Y-yeah…" 

Lucy decided to take pity on him when she realized he really couldn't handle the fumes, so she went outside on the balcony, not caring about being naked. She wasn't sure what time it was, but there were less cars or people out, allowing her to enjoy the breeze on her skin without worrying about being seen. 

That actually went better than she thought. She kinda lost it a bit there, but she was sure he didn't notice, so all is well. The plan was to have sex with him just to get him attached, but if it's always going to be _this_ good, then maybe they could continue this for _other_ reasons…

Once Natsu disposed of the condom, he flopped back on the bed, staring at Lucy through the glass balcony door. He was surprised that they'd gotten this far so quickly, but he couldn't say he had a problem with it. The gang would lose their shit if they knew that he went and did the exact thing they told him not to do, though. 

Lucy walked back in after putting out her cigarette, giving Natsu a cheeky smile. "You look good in my lipstick…" She went over to her purse on one of the end tables and pulled out the makeup. "Maybe you should keep it." 

When she handed her lipstick to him, Natsu narrowed his eyes. He knew she was just messing with him, but she was also giving him a keepsake, something to have whenever they were apart, and he wouldn't turn down her offer. 

Taking the lipstick, Natsu ran his hand through his hair and looked away from her. "So… what now?" He wasn't sure what to make of things, does this mean their relationship is something _more_ now?

"Now? Well, _now_ … you should get some sleep."

"That's not what I meant." 

"...Look, Natsu… I'm not gonna beat around the bush anymore. You're hot as fuck, and tonight I learned that you've got some good dick, too. I want you… do you want me?"

Natsu reached over to grab her wrist and pulled her to lay on top of him. She adjusted a bit so she was mounting and looking down at him, her face a deep red once he ran his fingers through her hair. "I don't believe you." He mumbled, and Lucy almost didn't notice, her eyes widening when she realized what he said. 

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I don't believe you. What do you want, for real? I'm sure if it was just sex, you could've gotten it from anyone else."

"I- No! I already told you I've been _waiting_ for the right guy, and I've decided that it was you!"

"You decided after only seeing me for 3 days, with a 3 week break in between?"

"Yes! You want to get to know me, right? Well, I want you, so I figured we'd make a compromise." She straddled him and traced the tattoo along his forearm. "Isn't it a win-win situation? You get answers, _and_ we get to fuck… _that's_ what I'm offering."

Natsu stared into her eyes intensely for a moment before shrugging. "Alright. Well, answer me this; why do you always wear gloves, even now?"

"...I don't wanna get my hands _dirty_."

"Okay… and now tell me the _real_ reason why you wear them. The truth this time, please." 

Lucy puffed her cheeks out in annoyance, but answered anyway. "I wear them to hide. And no, I'm not going to elaborate on that."

"Fine, fine… now, why do you smoke?"

"Eh? What kind of question is that? I smoke because I want to." 

"But you're a singer, I know that can't be good for your voice. I used to smoke, and I don't really like being around cigarettes because they… they bring back bad memories. I hope you understand, but I can't continue this if you do that around me." 

Lucy stared at him blankly before releasing a sigh. She understood trauma, and how certain smells or sensations could take you back to a certain point in your life, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. "Okay, fine, I won't do it around you. Why'd you quit, if you don't mind me asking..?"

"Uh… mainly just for health reasons, I guess. I could only do it 'cause my old roommate was quitting too… I went cold-turkey, but he's still going through the process. Said he wanted to stop for his girlfriend, she has asthma, and I figured I'd get rid of the habit too… Y'know, to support 'em." 

"Ah, I wouldn't be able to quit because _someone else_ wanted me to, but I get it. Now tell me, why did you wanna wear the condom tonight?"

Natsu gave her a wane smile, feeling a little embarrassed with his decision. "Well, it's silly, really…"

"...It's not silly if it's important to you."

"Uh… it's just, I promised my mom I wouldn't have unprotected sex with a stranger… I know she'd never find out, but I just couldn't imagine disappointing her…"

"Oh? So now I'm just a 'stranger?' I see how it is." Lucy pretended to be offended as she crossed her arms and turned her nose up, causing Natsu to chuckle.

"Well, yeah, pretty much. I don't even know your name…" 

"Really? I spelt it out when I was riding you. You didn't notice?"

Natsu gaped at her as he blushed violently, but she actually looked serious. "D-did you _really_?"

Lucy giggled, loving how flustered he got. "Yes, actually. Honestly, I just did it to see if I could." 

"W-well, anyways…" He decided not to think about it, he was too tired to be getting aroused again. "You said not to call you 'Bunny'-"

"Ugh, yes. I _hate_ being called that, where'd you even learn to refer to me like that? I've never mentioned it…"

"It's what the gang knows you as, so that's just where I got it from. How come you hate it? And why not just go by a different alias, then?"

Lucy looked down at him in deep thought, staying quiet for a few minutes. Natsu decided to play around with her hair while he waited, he figured this must be a personal question and that she must be debating on telling him the truth. 

"...It just has a bad connotation. The name kinda just stuck, and it's too late to change it…"

"Okay… then, what am I supposed to call you?" 

She shrugged as she got off of him and stood up. "Doesn't matter to me." She went to the bathroom and covered herself in a robe before collecting the discarded clothes that were spread along the floor. "It's late, get some sleep, and we'll talk more after."

"But I wanna keep talking _now_." Despite his words, Natsu let out a loud yawn.

"No, I don't want you being drowsy in the morning."

"Damn, what are you, my mother?"

"No, but if you wanna keep getting laid, I suggest you listen to me." 

That did the trick, and Natsu decided to head her warning and stay quiet. She was probably overwhelmed by his questions, maybe there was a reason why she initially only allowed him to ask 5… Or, maybe there's something she wants to do, but she can't do it while he's awake. Natsu shut his eyes, realizing that he's tethering on the edge between figuring her out and just straight up invading her privacy. 

Lucy smirked to herself when her threat worked. Once all of tonight's clothes were collected, she put on her slippers and left the room. Luckily, the hotel's patrons are mostly asleep, so she didn't get any unwanted attention as she made her way down to the kitchen. After picking up their forgotten dinner, Lucy brought the clothes to one of the laundry rooms, but before she could take care of things, there was a presence behind her that caught her attention. 

"Would you like some help with that, Princess?" 


	10. Natural

_So much for going unnoticed..._

Lucy cringed before she turned around, now face-to-face with one of her bellhops. "Hey, Virgo… I didn't know you were coming into work tonight…"

"I wanted to be here in case you needed any assistance for your _date_." 

"So… Aries spilled the beans, huh…" Lucy groaned. She didn't want certain people knowing about her plan, she knew they wouldn't approve, and she didn't want to witness their disappointment. 

"Did you really have a _man_ in your room tonight?" Virgo's eyes widened, her interest apparent. 

"Yes, and he's still here, so don't come by my room unannounced, please…" Lucy realized that Virgo's attention went back to the pile of clothes she was carrying, and she gave in. "Alright, you can take care of this if you want to."

"It's my pleasure, Princess."

Now that the laundry was taken care of, Lucy decided to take the food to her room and check if Natsu had fallen asleep, and hopefully he would be. As always, things have never been that easy for her, though, and she saw her life flash before her eyes when she caught sight of her hotel's manager waiting by her room door. 

"There you are, you promiscuous little hussy."

"...H-hi, Aquarius…"

The woman glared, causing Lucy to shrink back. "Since when are you attracted to men?"

"Huh? What- I've _always_ been..!"

"Mhm… and does your husband know about your date tonight?"

"Ugh, of course not. I'm not gonna talk to that asshole any more than I'm obligated to."

"Oh really?" Aquarius' eyebrow raised. "I'd assume having an open marriage would mean telling each other about who you sleep with, but whatever. What I _do_ know is that you better not get pregnant, because I will _personally_ -"

"Woah woah, slow down! I'm not pregnant nor do I intend to be anytime soon. And Ignia and I agreed that we don't care about who each other sleeps with. It's not like I'd ever let him touch me, so it doesn't matter."

"Yeah, and whatever happened to little miss 'I'm saving myself for marriage,' hm?" 

Lucy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, no longer cowering under Aquarius' glare. "I _am_ married, it's just not my 'husband' that I'm doing it with. And quit trying to slut shame me, alright? Besides, I'm doing this for a good reason." 

Aquarius dropped her glare once she realized she was coming across the wrong way, but her voice was still firm. "What is the reason, then?"

Lucy smirked, her eyes shining as she began to feel a little giddy. "Well, I think I found my ticket out of here!"

* * *

Natsu rolled over in bed, covering his face with his hand when he felt something licking him. _Wait… licking_?

He jolted up, causing the little white dog that was on top of him to roll off. The dog was quick to recover, though, and he got up to prance around Natsu's body in excitement. 

"Oh hey… Plue, right?" Natsu smiled as he pet the little puppy. "Where's your mama, hm?" Plue barked once before walking around in a circle and laying in Natsu's lap. "You burnt yourself out already, huh, little guy?" 

"Plue? _Où as tu-_ oh…" Lucy walked into the room, clad in only a bra and panties. "I'm sorry if he woke you…" 

Natsu couldn't speak, looking over her form in astonishment. He wasn't sure why, he'd already seen every bit of her last night, and the underwear she's wearing now is nowhere near as sexy as what she had on before, but there was just something about her that left him speechless. She just seemed to glow with the sun shining through the curtains and against her skin, and despite the fact that she still wore gloves, she looked… _natural_...

"Y-your hair…" He stammered, realizing he'd gone an uncomfortably long amount of time without talking. 

"Oh, yeah, I just got out of the shower…" Lucy ran her hand through her damp, loosely curled hair. "I usually blow-dry it, but I felt lazy, so…"

"It looks pretty like that." Natsu said, a little too quickly. He was convinced that she could pull off any hairstyle, but seeing her with curly, wet hair just added to that bit of domesticity he was feeling. _Ugh, I sound like a lovesick puppy…_

"Thank you." Lucy gave him a genuine smile as she approached the bed. "You hungry? I was just about to make breakfast."

"You were gonna _make_ it? Doesn't the hotel have a café or something where you could just _buy_ some breakfast?" Natsu stretched and yawned, peaking at the digital clock on the nightstand. _It's only 8 am? Damn…_

"Yeah, but I don't like interacting with the guests here. Also, I don't get to cook at my house, so I like to do it whenever I get the chance. I had stoves installed here for a reason." She was already making her way to the room's large kitchenette, taking Plue so he could go lie in his own bed. 

Breakfast sounded really appetizing right now, so Natsu decided to rub the sleep out of his eyes and get up. He realized he was naked a little too late, having already walked into the main room where Lucy could see him, causing her to whistle at him.

" _Votre cul est en feu_?" She giggled before turning around and turning on the stove.

Natsu could tell she'd said something to tease him, and he quickly turned around. "Uh, I'm gonna go shower…"

"There's a spare toothbrush and clothes in the bathroom!" Lucy called out, still snickering to herself. She noticed the way he seemed to forget how to think properly whenever he looked at her, and she was loving the attention. Never had she ever met someone who was so totally into her like this. She had him wrapped around her finger… _Perfect!_

Natsu didn't take long in the shower, brushing his teeth and getting dressed quickly. He didn't necessarily have somewhere to be, but he knew he shouldn't spend all day here, and there were still some things he wanted to talk about. He didn't bother drying his hair, deciding to match Bunny's damp and curly look. 

"What'd you make?" Natsu sat down at the dining table, watching the blonde plate their food.

"Bacon, eggs, and French toast. I hope you like it." She smiled as she sat across from him. Usually, she only cooks for herself, so having someone else eat her food was exciting. Natsu nearly began stuffing his face, but he hesitated when he noticed her staring at him owlishly.

"Uh..?"

"You have curly hair!" She seemed surprised, idly twirling one of her own curled strands.

"Oh, yeah, I decided to be lazy like you today." He chuckled. "My birth dad was black, so my hair is like this when _I_ don't blow-dry it." 

"Your 'birth dad'? Are you adopted?"

"Yeah, I was actually born in Japan." He smirked when her eyes widened. "That's right, you're not the only one who can speak another language."

"Actually, I can speak _8_ languages…" Lucy grinned triumphantly when she saw him slump in defeat. 

"Okay, fine, you win. Besides English, I only know Japanese and Hindi. How do you even manage to learn so many languages? That takes a whole lotta brain power."

Taking that as a compliment, Lucy's smile spread across her face. "Well, I just have a knack for learning something new. When I moved to America, I decided to indulge in language courses, it just seemed like fun."

 _When she moved to America? So she's not from here…_ "...That reminds me, why do you keep randomly speaking in French? I didn't realize you were a _native_ French speaker, but even so, isn't it a little odd to start speaking it around people who don't understand?"

Lucy looked down at her plate of food, rubbing her arms awkwardly. She hadn't expected him to ever point that out, but him being trilingual would allow him to notice how weird the way she spoke was. "I do it because I thought… maybe you'd think it was s-sexy…" 

Not expecting _that_ answer, Natsu gaped at her for a few silent minutes. It was cute to watch her be all flustered like this, but it was also extremely weird. It seemed like she had two different personalities- one was a sexy, conniving vixen and the other a shy, kind woman. "You wanted to seem sexy?"

"Ugh! I'm so _lame_!" She hid her face behind her hands. "Look, I haven't really 'flirted' since high school… Guys used to tell me they thought it was hot when I spoke French, and you're the first person I've ever actually _wanted_ to be attracted to me, so I just assumed- ugh it sounds so silly now that I'm saying it out loud!" 

Natsu smiled fondly at the stammering blonde, absolutely loving this side of her. It was easier to talk to her now that he knew she could be just as hopeless as him. "Hey, it's alright. I think it's cute. Kinda weird, but still cute."

His compliment only made Lucy more flustered. No one had ever called her cute before. She'd been called many things- sexy, hot, gorgeous- but no one had outright told her she was _cute_. This was oddly refreshing to hear.

"But, what do you mean you haven't flirted since high school..? Wait, how old _are_ you?"

"I'm 20, but I became 'Bunny' when I was 17. I never had the chance to seriously have any kind of relationship with _anyone_ , sure there were a couple flings here and there, but… You're the first _friend_ I've made since then…" Lucy realized she was starting to overshare now, but she couldn't stop herself. He made her feel comfortable, as if talking about herself wouldn't result in some fatal betrayal like it usually would. 

"I understand, but I honestly thought you'd be older than me. I'm 21… _and_ I'm just now realizing we should've told each other our ages _before_ we had sex…" 

"Haha, yeah. Could you imagine? I already knew your age before the first time I invited you here, though."

"Oh yeah, how're you so good at finding information, by the way?" 

"Hmph, as if I'd disclose my secrets like that. I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve." Her sultry smirk returned. No matter how comfortable he made her feel, she'd always have to remind him that she had the edge here.

"Alright, I'll figure it out eventually." Natsu decided to be confident, rivaling her smirk with his own. "But first things first, I'm gonna learn your name."

Lucy shrugged, glad that he was falling into her game. Knowing Natsu's reputation, once he set his mind on something, he wouldn't back down, so as long as he was still trying to figure her out, Lucy knew he wouldn't lose interest in her any time soon. 

As they ate, Natsu gave various compliments to Lucy's cooking, causing her to be a bright red mess. She fanned herself as she watched Natsu take care of their dishes, he'd been surprised that she had glass dishes instead of disposable ones, and insisted on cleaning up since she'd cooked. A little gesture like that had her biting her lip, not used to such common courtesy like this. 

Natsu flinched when he felt her run her hands down his back before going beneath his shirt to feel him up. He hadn't even heard her approach him, and he wasn't sure what she was trying to do until one of her hands dipped beneath the hem of his pants. "W-what are ya doing..?" 

"Well, I've answered your questions today, didn't I? Maybe you should give me my end of the deal before you leave…" 

_Fuck_ _…_ He truly couldn't resist her.


	11. Under the Bus

Never had Natsu been so dejected to see his front door. Home was always a safe haven for him, a place where he couldn't be judged, but now he wouldn't mind staying away for just a _little_ longer. He had an outstanding night, and an even better morning, but he knew it had to come to an end eventually. At least he got the see Happy, the cat isn't used to spending such long periods of time away from him.

As soon as he unlocked the door, Natsu froze, listening to what was going on inside. He could sense a presence, and he swiftly opened the door, attempting to catch the intruder off guard. Right before he could form any plan of action, he came face-to-face with a little bluenette.

"Natsu!" 

His tension dissipated when his little sister engulfed him in a hug, but now he was completely confused. "...What're you doing here, Wendy?" 

" _Everyone_ is here, silly!" Wendy giggled, taking Natsu's hands and leading him to the kitchen. Just as she said, the room was filled with people, most of his friends were in there mingling, but the person who _really_ caught him off guard was his mom- she was sitting at his dining table and had been the first to see him come in. 

"There you are, Natsu!" 

Everyone turned to look at him before bursting into cheers, coming together to give him hugs and encouraging pats. "What the hell is going on..?" Natsu breathed out, wondering if he'd just gone crazy or if there really was some sort of party going on at his house. 

"Oh Natsu," Mirajane ruffled his hair. "We heard you went on a date last night! We were all so happy for you, we came over to celebrate… but you didn't come home as soon as we thought you would…" She had that knowing look in her eye, and as embarrassing as it was being on the spot like this, all Natsu could do was panic. 

If everyone knew he was a date last night, there's a chance they know _who_ he was on a date with. Mira or any of the others didn't seem upset at all, though, so that left Natsu to face another issue he just realized. Glancing around the dining room, he spotted just the white haired girl he was looking for, her face stricken with guilt. 

"Excuse me for a sec'." He walked past everyone before stopping in front of Lisanna and crossing his arms, the girl feeling tiny under his glare.

"H-hey Natsu… Okay, I can explain!" 

"Yeah, you _better_ explain!"

Lisanna's voice became a whisper as she glanced around, making sure no one was listening in. "Okay, so when it got kinda late, Elfman called me and asked where I was. I didn't wanna lie to him because he sounded worried, and I told him I was at your place. Then he started asking about you… and I had to tell him you weren't home… I guess he told Mira, because she came over to like, interrogate me! She kept asking why I was at your place alone and I cracked! I told her you went on a date… I'm sorry, Natsu!" 

Natsu groaned, Lis was never good under pressure, and that was Mira's specialty. "Okay, and what about everyone else? And even my _mom_ is here, what's all this about?" 

"Well, Mira freaked out when I told her, and she told Erza, who must've told Gray, who must've told someone else and it just continued until there were a bunch of people coming over because they wanted to congratulate you when you came home… Wendy must've got the message from someone and got your mom to take her here, too…"

Another thought struck Natsu then, causing him to feel a little sick. "Hold up… was everyone here _all_ night?" He shuddered, looking over at his clock and seeing it was well past 1:00 pm.

"No, after about 10:00pm, everyone decided to go home. I thought that was the end of it, but Mira woke me up and said we were all gonna try and see if you were home now... I'm _so_ sorry, honestly! I should've just gone home after you left, but I'll admit I wanted to be here when you got home to ask you how it went, too…" 

Natsu dragged his hand down his face, wanting nothing more than to just leave and go back to that hotel. He couldn't fully blame Lisanna, though, because _he'd_ made the decision to get her involved when he _knew_ how her sister could be. At least she hadn't outright told anyone that it was _Bunny_ that he'd gone to see… _Wait…_

"None of them know that I was with ' _you-know-who,'_ right?" 

"Of course not! If there was one thing I wouldn't tell them, it was that. I just told everyone that I didn't know." 

He was thankful for that, Mira would probably cry and Erza would kill him if they found out. It was only a matter of time before they did, but hopefully by that time he'd have enough evidence that Bunny isn't as bad as she seems. 

"Hey, Natsu~ Come on and tell us how your date went!" Cana drunkenly called out as she came up to him and grabbed his wrist. "Or is it too explicit to talk about in front of Wendy?" She nudged his shoulder and wiggled her eyebrows.

 _Who the hell gets drunk at 1 in the afternoon…_ "Listen, there's really not much to talk about…"

"Oh yeah?" Gray commented when Natsu entered the living room where everyone had gathered. "Then how come you didn't come home until _now_? You had to have been 'busy' to be gone all night." 

The room filled with teasing catcalls and whistles, causing Natsu to blush as he covered Wendy's ears, much to her protest. "It's none of your business!"

Erza gasped, now sporting her own blush. "So you _really_ did-" She stopped herself, not wanting to disrespect Grandine with such crude wording. "This is a huge step for you, Natsu!" 

"So, who's the lucky girl? Or guy, or… how about you just tell us about your date?" Mira gave him an encouraging smile, but it didn't do anything but make Natsu more nervous. 

"It went well, and she was… uh, great… That's all I'm gonna say." 

Everyone seemed to be annoyed that he was being so vague, but Natsu couldn't care less. Hopefully they'll forget about this day and never ask him about it again. He flinched back when Wendy sunk her nails into his hands, causing him to stop covering her ears. Despite her violent act, she gave everyone a kind smile.

"Guys, Natsu doesn't really like talking about that stuff, so we shouldn't pressure him. Let's just celebrate the fact that he actually got a date at all." 

She sounded a little passive aggressive, but Natsu couldn't be more thankful that she stood up for him. He let out a sigh of relief when everyone agreed, passing around beers and going back to talking amongst each other. Wendy may be just 14, but she's still his sister, there's things she knows about him that no one else does. As a member of the gang, her insight is respected as well, despite her age. 

"Thanks, kiddo." Natsu whispered, patting her on the head.

"You owe me."

He chuckled at her joke as he went into the kitchen, remembering that he still had a bag around his arm carrying his to-go dinner from last night. He put the food in the fridge and gave Happy a pet on the head from where he'd been eating atop the counter, someone must've given the little guy some fish. 

The sounds of his friends talking and laughing in his living room acted as background noise as Natsu began to get lost in thought, reaching into his pocket and feeling the lipstick he'd gotten from Bunny. He wished he could talk about her to his friends and family, and that maybe she could meet them... 

" _Mera beta_ , you okay?"

Natsu blinked the fog out of his eyes before turning around to grin at his mother. "Yeah, I'm fine. Can't believe you showed up here, honestly."

" _Haan_ , I'm off work, Wendy was _begging_ me to take her to you. _Mujhe aap par garv hai,_ Natsu." Grandine came in to give him a tight hug, and Natsu relaxed at the feeling of being in his mother's embrace. 

" _Main bahut khush hoon…_ " Grandine's voice became shaky, causing Natsu to tighten his hold on her.

"Ah, don't cry, Ma…" 

" _Maaf karana… main chintit tha_ … I thought you wouldn't ever go out again…" 

"I'm sorry I worried you…" 

"...Don't be sad, _main tumse bahut ishq karthee hoon_ …" 

"I love you too, Ma…" 

Natsu knew that his mom has always been worried about him like this. She's very supportive, but she'd been the first to know about his developing social issues, so it was expected that this would mean a lot to her. He was glad she was happy for him, but he worried that she'd be crying for a different reason once she finds out _who_ he went out with…

"Natsu?"

" _Haan_ , Ma?" 

"You used protection, yes?" 

_Way to ruin the moment…_ "Uh, yes, of course…" 

"Good."

As Natsu was occupied in the kitchen, everyone in the living room took it upon themselves to guess what type of girl he'd be into. Or rather, what type of girl would be interested in _him_ , and how he ever managed to get not only a date, but a reason to have been gone all last night and this morning. 

"She must be super… patient…" Cana mumbled, already downing her 10th beer. "I mean, Natsu won't even go out with _us_ anymore, you mean to tell me he met someone new, had a date, _and_ stayed the night?"

"It's possible. You know how he keeps his personal life more secret nowadays…" Erza reasoned.

"I feel like we would've known, though… _and_ he went out on the same day as his therapy appointment? He's always so gloomy after those, how'd he even get the energy for that?" Gray narrowed his eyes as he thought it over, but he caught the way Lisanna shifted awkwardly. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Wait, you were there before he left, right, Lis? What was he like?"

Lisanna almost made a run for it when everyone turned to her, hoping Natsu would come back into the room soon so they could end this conversation. "Um… I just came over to check on him, and he was already getting ready to leave… he didn't go into detail about anything, really…" 

Gray wasn't satisfied with her answer, but before he could say anything, Juvia spoke up. "Well, however he did it, we'll find out eventually. Maybe he's in love with this girl, and is afraid to talk about her because we might not approve…" Juvia sighed, being overly upset about the thought.

"Since when has Natsu ever cared about _our_ approval?" 

"Maybe it's because his mom is here. I know he's super serious about not disappointing her…" 

"Mom wouldn't care who he dates, though. As long as he's happy, she doesn't mind. She said that many times, so I don't think that's why he's not telling us…" 

As they continued to come up with reasons for Natsu's behavior, Lisanna decided to take the opportunity to sneak out. After whispering she was going to the bathroom, she rushed out of the room and up the stairs, taking a break to compose herself. 

The thought of letting Natsu down made her feel sick. All she wanted to do was help him, to see her old friend go back to being himself, and now her attempt might fail before she even really gets to try. Keeping this secret was driving her crazy, and she wasn't sure if she bit off more than she could chew...

"Well well well, what do we have here?" 

Lisanna flinched, not wanting to turn around and face the man who just came up the stairs behind her.

"Well, Lis, are you gonna tell me what you're hiding, or are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Mera Beta- My son  
> *Haan- Yes/Yeah  
> *Mujhe aap par garv hai- I'm proud of you  
> *Main bahut khush hoon- I'm so happy  
> *Maaf karana- Sorry  
> *Main chintit tha- I was worried  
> *Main tumse bahut ishq karthee hoon- I love you so much


	12. Behind Closed Doors

  
Gray watched as Lisanna snuck away towards the stairs, not believing her vague words for a second. It was clear she knows something that she doesn't want to admit.

As he quietly followed her, he smirked when he noticed she seemed to be trying to compose herself, further proving his suspicion.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

He saw her body stiffen, clearly she hadn't noticed he was behind her. "Well, Lis, are you gonna tell me what you're hiding, or are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

"...G-Gray, I-"

"I'm not gonna take any bullshit and you know it."

Lisanna held her head in her hands and groaned loudly before turning around to glare at Gray, completely overwhelmed. "Well, what do you want me to say, huh!?"

Gray's eyes widened, taking a couple steps back and holding his hands up in surrender. He hadn't meant to set her off like that. "Woah, woah, chill! I'm just saying it seemed like you were lying back there… I don't wanna put you on the spot, so I'm giving you a chance to fess up in private…"

After taking a few deep breaths, Lisanna sighed. "I can't, okay? Yes I was lying, but I seriously cannot tell you what I know. It wouldn't be fair to Natsu." 

"...Did he go out with _Bunny_?" 

Lisanna's wide eyes and squeak of surprise was enough proof for him to know he'd guessed right, causing him to groan this time. _Leave it to that idiot to go and do the exact thing we warned him not to…_

"H-how'd you figure it out? Oh crap, was I really that obvious? If you know, then it's only a matter of time before Mira and Erza-"

"Hey, calm down, they aren't gonna know." Gray reassured her, holding onto her shoulders to help her ground herself. "I just guessed 'cause… well, I _know_ Natsu, alright? Everyone else thought he'd gotten over her, but I could tell it was still bothering him… I was gonna talk to him about it, but it looks like you beat me to it." 

"Wait, so… You're _not_ gonna tell the others?"

"Of course not, Natsu's got enough going on in his life, I'm not gonna pit everyone against him again after they've finally stopped giving him shit about it."

"Uh, but _you_ gave him 'crap' about it, too…" 

"Well, duh. That's just how the two of us are. I wanna know why you decided to help him with 'Bunny,' though… I mean, aren't you a _little_ worried? That chick's _really_ crazy, y'know…"

Lisanna ran her hand through her bangs, sighing lowly and looking down. It's not that she wasn't worried about whoever Bunny is and what she could do, but… "I just… He seemed happier when he was pursuing her, and last night was the first time I've seen him so excited, especially after one of his appointments… I think it's worth the risk, y'know? I was gonna try and get the others to help _eventually_ , but..." 

Gray thought over her words for a moment. When he'd gotten the news that Natsu was on a date, his first thought was how much he wanted to hear from Natsu afterwards. After watching his best friend's mental health slowly deteriorate and not being able to do anything about it, Gray has always felt guilty. He was guilty whenever he went out for drinks and Natsu denied, he was guilty when he'd gotten a girlfriend and couldn't hang out with Natsu as much, and he felt guilty when he hadn't been there for Natsu for his first date.

He'd never admit it, but hearing that Natsu had gotten a date _on his own_ and planned to go out by _himself_... it almost made Gray emotional. Having been the one to stop him from ending it all that fateful night back in high school, and been the one to hear Natsu talk about how little he valued his own life, Gray thought he'd _never_ get his best friend back. 

It sounds crazy, but Natsu's sudden motivation to pursue Bunny could be what he's been needing all this time.

"...Alright, I get what you're saying, but… are you sure the risk is worth the reward?"

Lisanna frowned as she thought it over. If this ended badly, there was a chance that Natsu would get even worse than he already was. "...Maybe we should talk to Natsu about this…" She groaned again when a certain realization hit her. "Ugh, he's gonna be _so_ pissed that you found out!" 

"I'm gonna be pissed that he found out _what_?" Natsu narrowed his eyes as he made his way up the stairs, taking in Gray and Lisanna's panicked expressions.

"Um… I-I can explain…"

* * *

"Well, back to hell, huh?" Lucy held Plue close to her, the toy poodle whimpering at the sight of the large mansion. " _Je sais, bébé_ … I hate it here too."

Walking into the house, Lucy kept her head down as she made a beeline for her bedroom. She passed the living room, and from the corner of her eye, she could see two people sitting on the large sofa. She shut her eyes, slowing her steps so that she was quieter. _Please don't notice me…_

"Lucy?"

 _Shit…_ Lucy stood still, not turning her head to look up at Ignia even as he approached her.

"Where have you been?" Ignia stood in front of her, causing Lucy to back up a couple steps.

"Working." 

"...Why is your hair like that?"

"It got wet…" 

Ignia frowned, he'd have to have a talk with her about looking presentable during work. Realizing that he had a guest waiting on the couch, he cleared his throat and smiled. "Hey… Why're you so tense? Look at me."

"...I'm tired." 

"Look at me, Lucy." 

Lucy forced her eyes up, but they remained unfocused as she stared blankly. She knew he wouldn't hurt her in front of guests, but he _would_ punish her in private if she didn't behave. 

"I missed you, babe."

Lucy fought the urge to punch him in his stupid, lying face. 

"Can I have a kiss?" He mumbled as he inched his hand towards her cheek and leaned closer. Lucy tried to stay still, but once she heard Plue begin to growl, she took a big step back.

"I'm tired, Ignia."

"You're _always_ tired, it seems." 

Lucy glared at him, but she held her tongue. As long as she behaved, he wouldn't have a reason to hurt her. "...I work a lot."

"...We'll talk about this tonight." Ignia let his statement set in before walking away from her. He watched as she power walked up the stairs and to her room, growing annoyed with her rejection. Returning to the couch, he let out a long sigh.

"Wow… your wife seems _so_ boring!" 

Ignia turned to the snickering blonde on his couch, smirking as she moved to straddle him. "Does she?"

"Yeah…" Selene trailed her finger down his face and exposed chest before unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. "I bet she doesn't satisfy you, hm?"

"Nope." Ignia trailed his hands over Selene's bottom, lifting her skirt in the process.

"Well, it's a good thing you have _me_ , huh?" The two began to make out, the sounds they made filling the room.

In the safety of her bed, Lucy groaned into her pillow, wondering how those two could be _so_ loud. She was sure Ignia wanted to make her jealous, even though _she_ was the one who suggested an open relationship, and she wouldn't even touch him with a 10 foot pole. Selene's likely trying to make her jealous, too, that psycho really believes she's special, as if Ignia doesn't sleep with several women besides her. 

Lucy seriously dreaded the talk she and Ignia would have later, knowing he was probably gonna insult her about something, she'd get pissed off, and he'd probably hit her for having an attitude. Everyday seemed the same.

"At least things won't be this way forever…" Lucy spoke to Plue as he jumped on the bed and laid next to her on the pillow. "If my plan works… we'll be able to get out of here… _nous pourrions être libres…_ " 

Despite her words, she couldn't be optimistic. This isn't the first time she planned on escaping, and every other plan had failed. Not only that, but one time Ignia caught her in the middle of one, and the punishment she got for that will scar her for the rest of her life, _literally_. 

" _Je ne peux plus gérer ça_." Plue perked up, looking at Lucy in alert. "I can't t-take it anymore…" Lucy closed her eyes, allowing her tears to flow freely. She was tired of crying, tired of being in this house, and tired of being Ignia's slave. "I don't wanna be here anymore, Plue..!"

Plue licked her face, effectively whipping away her tears and making her smile. He barked and rolled over on top of her, causing her to giggle and sit up. "What're you doing, _garçon drôle_?"

She played with him for a bit, laughing and smiling at the way he jumped and rolled around. " _Qui est mon bon petit garçon? Tu l'es~_ " Plue barked in response. "Let's watch a movie, hm?" 

The dog jumped off the bed and into Lucy's closet before he came back, a bag of dog treats in his mouth. Rubbing him behind his ear when he dropped the treats in her lap, Lucy giggled. " _C'est une bonne idée_ , Plue. Could you get Mama's snacks, too?" 

As told, Plue went into her closet again and came back with a bag of cookies in his mouth before returning to his spot on her bed. "Good boy~" 

The two laid back as Lucy turned a movie on, cuddling into the covers and opening their snacks. She played a nature film, Plue was always so fascinated by the animals on TV. Lucy sighed, Plue and snacks will always be there for her whenever she was down, and she was very grateful for them. 

She couldn't shake the thought that maybe she'll be having something _else_ in her life to help her whenever she felt down now. After debating in her mind for a few minutes, Lucy let out a huff and took her phone out of the drawer of her nightstand. 

This was her _real_ phone with her _real_ number… the most reliable source of contact for her… _Oh, what the hell!_

Typing away at her phone, Lucy sent a text message that had her hiding her face in her pillow and holding in a squeal like she was a teenager texting her crush for the first time.

**"Hey, Natsu ♡"**

After a few minutes went by, she cursed at herself, realizing she left out an important detail.

**"This is your favorite blonde ;)"**

_Wait, should I have said that? I mean, what if he knows other blondes? Was it rude to assume I'm his favorite?_ Her notification sound jolted her out of her thoughts, and she found herself grinning like an idiot. 

**"Texting me already? It's only been a couple hours"**

_He texted me back! Oh my gosh!_ Lucy wasn't sure why this made her so excited. They _just_ had sex… _twice_! Maybe it was just because this is the first person outside of family that she used her real number to contact, and the fact that he answered so quickly…

 **"I can't stop thinking about you."** Lucy hoped she was coming across as bold and not desperate, though she honestly felt like the latter. She groaned into her pillow, realizing how pathetic she was being. Natsu is just a pawn in her game, so what if he's the first man to ever make her feel good? And so what if he's got the prettiest shade of pink hair, and hot tattoos, and green eyes that she could get lost in for hours-

**"Me neither ;)"**

_Oh no… he's using emoticons! He's flirting! I'm the only one who should be doing the flirting! Stay in control, Lucy!_ **"I wanna taste you again…"**

**"I wanna taste you too"**

_Fuck! He said it so fast, too! He's probably not even nervous… I will not let this man beat me at my own game..!_

**"Are you free tomorrow?"**

**"I'm free whenever you need me."**

_Damn right, you better be!_ **"Good."**

Plue began to bark as a pack of wolves howled on the TV, distracting Lucy for a moment. Honestly, she isn't sure what on earth has come over her. Never had she ever been nervous to talk to someone, let alone someone she hardly even knows! At first it was easy, Natsu was just another attractive guy that she'd use to get her way… but now…

 _He brought me flowers… and he was so cute about it… And his outfit, ugh, he looked so good! He even took an Uber because he didn't want to be late, even though he has motion sickness…_ She may be crazy for being into a guy that she just met, but _he's_ definitely crazier. This was her biggest motivation to go through with this plan, though.

It's clear that Natsu is _so_ into her, and Lucy couldn't help but feel a _little_ guilty. He's a sweet guy, but their relationship will be nothing more than physical. Her intentions are very straight forward: have good sex and get what she wants, and no matter how sweet he may be, nothing more will happen between them. In fact, after she gets what she wants, Lucy will likely end this physical relationship entirely. 

But still, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Only a little, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Je sais, bébé- I know, baby  
> *Nous pourrions être libres- We could be free  
> *Je ne peux plus gérer ça- I can't take this anymore  
> *Garçon drôle- Silly boy  
> *Qui est mon bon petit garçon- Who's my good little boy  
> *Tu l'es- You are  
> *C'est une bonne idée- That's a good idea


	13. Agreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple of page breaks here, I hope this chapter isn't too difficult to follow.

Natsu stopped himself from going into the living room behind his mom, overhearing the topic of conversation. He really wasn't up for talking about how much of a 'Saint' his date must've been to have gone out with him.

He knew his friends had good intentions, they always do, but this is the _worst_ thing for them to have stuck their noses into. Deciding he wanted a break, Natsu made his way up the stairs towards his room, but stopped when he saw two people in the hallway. 

Overhearing Lisanna's panicked statement, Natsu narrowed his eyes. "I'm gonna be pissed that he found out _what_?" 

Lisanna's eyes widened, looking like a guilty puppy. "Um… I-I can explain…"

Natsu crossed his arms as he gave both of his friends a pointed look. Gray and Lisanna were _too_ obvious right now. "So? What are you two hiding?"

"...U-um…" Realizing she was prolonging the inevitable, Lisanna decided to get it over with. "OK, Gray found out…"

Natsu's eyes widened as he stared at Gray. "...Oh…"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna tell anyone…" Gray leaned against the wall. "Actually… I wanna help you." 

The boys stared at each other in silence, their fierce atmosphere making Lisanna wonder if they were gonna break out into a fight. Natsu knew exactly why Gray would suddenly want to help him. They had agreed to never speak of that day again, but Gray had seen the worst of him, and the talks they had afterwards gave him a whole different perspective. 

Whatever Lisanna must've said must've made Gray realize just how serious this is for Natsu. _Or, maybe, he was able to figure it out on his own…_

"...Why do you wanna help me?"

Gray dropped his gaze, shuffling his feet awkwardly. He wouldn't say it out loud, but it should be obvious that he just wants Natsu to be happy again. "Well, I know you're an airhead, but if you went on a date and stayed the night with Bunny, then there's gotta be something you know that we don't."

Natsu grinned, glad that he was finally on the same page with someone. "Yeah, I'm getting to know her a lot better. I learned that she's 20, a French immigrant, and her name starts with an L-"

"Woah, really?" Lisanna gasped. "How'd you find that information?"

"She told me." Natsu gave a smug smirk, causing Gray and Lisanna to share a look.

"Uh huh… and _how_ did you manage to get her to just tell you this stuff?" Gray's tone was laced with suspicion, but Natsu honestly couldn't blame him.

"Well, me and her made an 'agreement.' She'll give me answers as long as I-" Natsu's phone went off, cutting his sentence short. He stared at his pocket in silence as his eyes slowly began to narrow. That was the default sound of a text message notification, which didn't make sense. Everyone he spoke to has a distinct ringtone saved in his phone, just to make it easier for him to decipher between everyone. For the default tone to sound, I'd mean an unknown number was texting...

"Hang on…" He took his phone and looked over the message, though it didn't clear anything up. 

**"Hey, Natsu ♡"**

A part of him knew _exactly_ who this could be, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. He'd _just_ seen her, she wouldn't be texting him already, would she?

**"This is your favorite blonde ;)"**

_I guess she would be texting me already, then._ A big smile spread across his face as he read over the messages again and again, imagining her expression. _She's probably got that cute blush she had earlier… or maybe she's got that sexy smile…_

"What the hell are you making that dumb face at?" 

Natsu rolled his eyes, giving himself a few more seconds to type a quick response before smirking at his friends again. "Guess who just texted me."

"No way, did she really?" Lisanna jumped up in excitement before standing behind Natsu to peak at his phone. Gray rolled his eyes at them, but he went to look at the phone as well.

"What are the odds that she'd text you _right_ now?"

"I dunno, but I wonder if this is her _actual_ number. The area code seems right…" 

"Oooh she sent another message, Natsu!" 

**"I can't stop thinking about you."**

Natsu's face turned bright red, causing Lisanna to whistle and Gray to laugh. 

"Oh my gosh~" Lisanna shook Natsu's shoulders excitedly. "She's flirting with you! Flirt back, and do it quickly before she gets the wrong idea!"

"Oh! Uh… what should I say..?"

"Well, what's your first instinct?" 

After a whole minute of silence, they realized Natsu didn't have any instinct at all. Gray ran his hand down his face and let out an exasperated sigh before gripping Natsu's shoulder. "Dude, just tell her you can't stop thinking about her, too."

"Good idea!" Natsu didn't notice the annoyed look on his friend's face as he texted his response. 

**"Me neither"**

"Wait!" Gray took the phone before the message was sent, quickly adding something to the text and sending it when he was satisfied. "There, you gotta play the same game she's playing, bro."

**"Me neither ;)"**

"...This is corny."

"No, this is _flirting_. Get used to it if you ever wanna keep seeing this chick. That reminds me, do you know _why_ she's being so flirty with you in the first place? It seemed like Bunny isn't the social type."

"Oh, actually-" The phone went off again, causing Natsu to forget his thought as he read the next text message. It took him a whole minute to comprehend, his face getting redder as Gray and Lisanna froze.

**"I wanna taste you again…"**

"Oh. My. God…" Gray mumbled, sharing a look with Lisanna before the two burst into laughter. Natsu was busy trying to figure out how the conversation went from them thinking about each other to her talking about tasting him.

"What does she mean by that? And she said 'again'... Wait, did you _actually_ …" Lisanna's laughter died down as the realization hit. "Oh my… it's a good thing you had those condoms, huh?"

"Well, yeah, that's what I was trying to tell you guys. I mean, why else would I have stayed the night with her…" 

"I know, it's just… so hard to believe…"

"Why do you keep being so surprised!?"

"I dunno, this is all so fast, I never imagined you were the type to hit 3rd base on the first date…"

Unsure if she was insulting him or not, Natsu decided to brush it off as he quickly replied to Bunny's text. "Woah, what did you just say?" Gray asked as he took the phone again.

**"I wanna taste you too"**

"Oh, that's…" Gray hesitated, feeling grossed out at the sight of Natsu sexting someone. "Yeah, you got the hang of this…"

"Yeah, anyway, I've been able to use this to get her to talk." The incredulous looks he got made Natsu realize he probably worded his sentence wrong. "Uh, I meant, we made an agreement. I get answers and she gets… _me_ …"

"Wait, so you two are _just_ hooking up? That changes things… I wonder what her intentions are…"

Natsu glared at Gray, annoyed with the uncertainty. "Um, I just _told_ you what her intentions are."

"I dunno, it's a little weird… She knows you're in Fairy Tail, yet she's giving you answers so easily? That _is_ pretty suspicious…"

Now Natsu felt betrayed, he'd thought Lisanna was on his side! "Guys, I'm telling you that she's not what you think. She's actually pretty cute, I think that intimidating persona everyone knows as 'Bunny' is just an act…"

"And do you have anything to base your theory on besides the fact that you think she's 'cute'?" 

"...There's something about her, I just…" Natsu smiled as he remembered the way she looked that morning, and the way she'd shown how adorable she could be. "...I can just feel it."

"Uh oh… sounds to me like you've fallen for this chick…" Gray had already known this, but after finding out that Bunny was only doing this because they made an agreement, he started to worry for Natsu's feelings. "You know you're just hooking up, right? If you catch feelings for her, it'll just end badly…"

Ignoring Gray's warning, Natsu read Bunny's next message;

**"Are you free tomorrow?"**

He was excited that she was already making plans to see him again, and he didn't hesitate as he replied;

**"I'm** **free whenever you need me."**

He smirked when Bunny simply responded with **"Good,"** getting the feeling that she was only pretending to be nonchalant. 

"Natsu? Did you hear what I said? You really shouldn't-"

"There you are! What're you three doing up here?" Juvia made her way up the stairs, interrupting the conversation. "We've been lookin for you!" 

As she noticed the nervous, uncomfortable expressions the three were wearing, Juvia grew weary. "...What _are_ you three doing up here? Should Juvia be concerned?" She narrowed her eyes at Natsu and Lisanna. They better not be doing anything suspicious with her man!

"Uh, nah, we were just catching up, y'know?" It wasn't until after he spoke did Natsu realize that was probably the worst attempt at acting natural ever.

"Yeah, just… looking at something funny on Natsu's phone!" Now Lisanna cringed, she was never good at lying.

"It's nothing to worry about, babe." Gray grabbed Juvia's hand and gave her a kiss before taking her down the steps, making her forget the reason she even came up there in the first place. They were lucky that Juvia is so easily distracted, and Natsu and Lisanna decided to go back down stairs so no one else would get suspicious. They're too far deep, and if anyone found out what they've been doing _now_ , there's no telling what horrible way they'd be reprimanded…

They made a silent agreement to act natural for the rest of the afternoon, not wanting to draw even the slightest suspicion.

* * *

Natsu groaned loudly, turning off the alarm on his phone. It'd woken him up 5 times this morning, and he cursed himself for setting so many alarms last night. Just as he was about to go back to sleep, Happy jumped on his back and began meowing in his ear.

"I know, buddy… I'm getting up." Natsu mumbled as he slowly sat up and stared at nothing for a moment, mentally preparing himself for the day. 

Today is grocery day, a mandatory day once a month where Natsu had to go to the store to get food for him and Happy. Days like this made him wonder why he ever moved out of his mom's place, and then why he stopped sharing a place with Gray… It'd be so much easier for them to just go to the store instead. 

Remembering that his mom told him he needed to start doing certain things on his own because he's an adult, and that _Gray_ had been the one to move out last year, Natsu groaned again. Something as easy as going to the store and getting groceries shouldn't be this difficult, and he'd never talked about this with anyone, so it wasn't like he could fault them.

He wasn't even sure when he started being so anxious, and what was even more frustrating was that sometimes he could talk to strangers without a problem, and other times he'd hyperventilate from just the thought of scheduling his own doctors appointment. 

When he realized that he'd been confident enough to meet, talk to, and eventually go on a date with Bunny, Natsu decided to have faith in himself. His relationship with her would be proof that he can do this, that his biggest enemy is just himself. 

"C'mon Happy, go get your leash." Natsu instructed as he quickly got dressed. The cat scurried away and returned with his leash in his mouth, waiting patiently until Natsu attached it to his collar. "We don't need to get much, so we won't be out long." 

Happy meowed, hopping up and making Natsu carry him. "Oi, quit being lazy." His cute meow had Natsu giving in. "Fine, but you're walking on the way back."

The trip to the store was fine, no encounters besides the occasional wave from the neighbors. Walking into the store was easy, too, since Natsu had been a regular at the store since he was a kid. He kept his gaze focused and his steps purposeful, only going to the isles that were absolutely necessary. 

Finally ready to check out, Natsu was relieved to see one of the cashier's he's familiar with was working today as he joined the short line. Happy sat in the basket, clawing at a bag of cat treats that Natsu put in to hopefully distract from the fish he was holding, knowing that the cat couldn't be trusted around salmon. 

"Cute cat." 

Natsu flinched before looking up, seeing the person in front of him was looking at him. He glanced back at Happy, who was staring at the stranger intensely, before looking back up and smiling. "Thanks."

"I didn't know they allowed pets here."

"They usually don't, but he's a service animal." 

"Oh! I'm sorry for bothering you, then."

"It's alright, I don't mind…" Happy meowed and leaned against the edge of the cart, surely noticing that he was the subject of the conversation right now. He allowed the cat to enjoy the attention, Natsu was more concerned with the fact that he just had a regular interaction with someone he doesn't know. _And I didn't even stutter this time!_

* * *

"-And then mom didn't even believe me when I told her! I swear, Wendy could get away with _anything_! So, how was your weekend?"

" _Meow_."

"Same."

Natsu took his time on the way back home, catching up with Happy and letting him get his exercise. He wasn't sure if he'd go in and do any work today, but he knew he probably should. It wasn't that he was in need of money at the moment, but the last job he did… he kinda slacked off, and he hadn't had another job in a few days. The boss is due to come by for the monthly examination soon, and he _definitely_ didn't want to get in trouble with her.

"I wonder what Bun- er, 'you-know-who' is up to…" Natsu had decided he'd try and get used to not calling her 'Bunny' since she made it clear that she didn't like it, but it was hard considering he didn't know what else to call her. "Maybe I should give her a nickname… would that be weird?"

" _Meow_."

"Yeah, well I'm not taking advice from a cat, anyway." Natsu idly reached into his pocket, searching for the lipstick he still kept on him. _Is that weird, too? Yeah, it's definitely weird…_ Just when he thought he had it, he picked up his phone instead. _Huh, must've left it at home. Good, now I don't feel as much of a creep._

He decided to check the time, seeing that it was still very early. "I'll make us something to eat and go to work. Might as well since I got nothing better to do." 

The days really have been the same for the past few years. Always a repeat cycle of eat, sleep, and work, with the occasional seeing his friends or family sprinkled in. For a while, Natsu was content with his predictable life- it left no room for disappointment- but now that he's gotten a taste of something _new_ , he began to dread how much of his life he's wasted away doing nothing. 

_.._. _Wait…_ Natsu abruptly stopped walking, causing Happy to meow in annoyance. "...Oh my gosh! I told her I was free today!" Natsu had completely forgotten he texted Bunny last night. Right after they were nearly caught by Juvia, he decided not to mention the specifics of his date and just spent the rest of the day catching up to not raise any more suspicion. He fell asleep right after everyone left, and honestly, Natsu was kinda embarrassed about forgetting such an important conversation. 

_Ugh, I should text her and ask when she wants me… hopefully she's still using that number…_ He ignored the way Happy was pulling at the leash as he went through his recent messages. Right when he was about to press call, he noticed the three dots pop up in the corner, meaning she was typing. _She's typing! What're the odds…_

**"** **You up?"**

Natsu responded a little _too_ fast, and he hoped he wasn't being too obvious with how eager he is right now.

**"Yeah, what's up?"**

She followed up by calling him, causing Natsu to clear his throat a few times before answering, not wanting his voice to crack or sound too strained. 

_**"Hey!"** _

"H-hey!" _So much for not cracking…_

**_"Can you come over? Like, right now?"_ **

"Uh, yeah, sure-"

_**"I mean, like, urgently… I need you here as soon as possible."** _

"Oh! Okay, yeah, I'm on my way."

_**"Hurry."** _

When she hung up, Natsu took a moment to think about what the hell just happened. She sounded winded, as if she had just been running. And why was she asking for him to hurry? Could she be hurt, or does she need help? _Fuck, I probably shouldn't keep her waiting…_

It was just then that he remembered that he had Happy's leash in one hand and a couple grocery bags in the other.

"Oh… shit."


	14. Stress Relief (NSFW)

Lucy downed her 2nd water bottle as she fanned herself, feeling overdressed in this August weather, and it didn't help that several members of her staff were surrounding her. She needs her space, dammit!

"Are you sure you can stand, madam?"

"Yes, I told you I'm fine, Capricorn. I just need a minute."

"You _need_ to get out of this stuffy car and clean yourself up."

"Don't be mean to her, Aquarius! She's injured!"

"Oh, shaddup."

Lucy was seriously starting to feel a headache coming on. "Okay, I'm gonna get up… Could you two help me?"

Capricorn and Aquarius each lent her a hand, allowing her to lean her weight on them as they walked past the various worried staff and into the hotel. "Okay, I need a break…" Lucy took a seat on one of the couches in the lobby and groaned as several more staff members rushed to her aid.

"Guys, I'm not gonna feel any better with you all hovering over me!" Her tone had everyone spouting apologies and scurrying away, not wanting to agitate their injured boss any further. 

"I am here to dress your wounds." Virgo approached with a first aid kit. "Allow me to escort you to your room."

"Alright, just-"

The doors burst open, causing the already frantic staff to gape at the man rushing in. Capricorn acted fast, going up and accessing the situation. 

"Sir, we have no reservations today, the building is on temporary lockdown-"

"Wait! He can come in, I invited him." 

Lucy smiled as she watched Natsu walk up to her, but her expression fell when she saw the state he was in. He looked completely disheveled, and he held a few grocery bags and… 

"...What the hell is _that_?"

Natsu's eyes raked over her form, noting how amazing she looks in a tuxedo. "Oh, uh… this is my cat, Happy."

"...Um…"

"Sorry, I was just on my way home from the store when you called me… Is everything ok?"

"Wait, you took your cat to the store?"

"Yeah, he's an emotional support animal, so…"

" _Really_?" Lucy smiled again, happy with the new information. "Plue is an emotional support animal, too!" 

"For real? That's-" Natsu paused as he realized the hotel staff all looked like they'd seen a ghost. He wasn't sure if they were making those looks because of _him_ , and he was just about to ask her before he noticed another thing. 

There was a staff member sitting next to her and holding a first-aid kit, and Bunny herself looked like she just got ran over, though only her expression showed it. Her clothes weren't disheveled at all, she looked neatly dressed besides the red stain on her dress shirt.

_Wait…_

"What is that?" Natsu stared at the stain on the side of her torso, noticing how familiar that red colour was. "Is that… blood?"

"Yeah, I got stabbed, but I'm okay. I just took some painkillers, and they should kick in any moment now."

"...You were stabbed…" Natsu sat beside her. "...Why did you ask me to come here?"

"Because I need something to cheer me up." Her smile was kind, trying not to be too obvious about her intentions in front of everyone. 

Natsu was a bit perplexed. This looks like a serious injury, yet she wants to go and have sex? "I-"

"Meet me in the room. You can take the stairs, but I'll be in the elevator." Lucy was already standing, Virgo moving beside her to offer support if needed. Natsu chose to follow her and talk to her about his concerns when they were alone, already feeling uncomfortable with the stares they were getting.

" _Il est mignon_." Virgo's face was blank and her voice was monotone despite her words, and Lucy figured her bellhop was just trying to make her smile. 

" _Je sais, n'est-ce pas_?" Lucy smirked in response. 

_Great, now I don't know what they're saying._ Natsu huffed, not liking the language barrier. He was now regretting the fact that he didn't take Levy up on her offer to teach him some French. 

He went for the stairs while the girls took the elevator, sprinting as fast as he could with his hands full. He definitely didn't want to keep her waiting. 

Surprisingly, he made it to the room a couple seconds before her. She looked better by the time she came up to unlock the door, giving him another sweet smile. "Give me a minute while I get patched up. You can put your groceries away if you need to, and…" She narrowed her eyes at the cat in his arms. "... _That_ better not lay a scratch on my Plue."

"Happy's friendly." Natsu got a little defensive, not liking the way she looked at his best friend. 

"Yeah, I'm just not much of a cat person." Lucy plopped down on the couch in the main room of the suite and quickly began to take off her shirt and jacket. Plue barked excitedly and jumped into her lap, making her wince. " _Pas maintenant, bébé_ … Mama is hurt." 

Plue got the idea as Virgo quickly began dressing Lucy's wound, the dog's head tilting as he watched Natsu put his grocery bags down and release Happy. "Oh, hey little guy." Natsu bent down to pet him when he walked by, but Plue seemed interested in something else. 

Happy was atop the counter, both animals having a stare down. Happy abruptly jumped down, and they sniffed each other for a while before seemingly losing interest and walking away, Plue going to lay near Lucy and Happy going to explore. 

"Hm… I think they like each other…" Natsu was just glad that there wasn't a fight, knowing how Happy didn't usually get along with dogs. "Now, mind telling me how you got stabbed?"

Lucy had been holding her breath as Virgo applied alcohol onto the gash on her side, but she heard his question. "I just… things just got a bit messy." 

Natsu understood what she meant all too well. The work they do is very similar, and the risk of injury is extremely high. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

Lucy was biting down on her suit jacket as Virgo began stitching her up, trying to fight through the pain. It felt like forever before she was done, but she quickly answered once she caught her breath. "Y-yeah… I could really use the distraction…"

Virgo finished wrapping a gauze around Lucy's middle and stared at the two intensely. Natsu noticed her out of the corner of his eye, and decided to put aside Lucy's words so he wouldn't be rude.

"I am Virgo." She'd already predicted he was about to say something and spoke first, catching him off guard. 

"Oh, I'm Natsu." 

"Princess is very important to me…" She took her first-aid kit and walked towards the door. "Make her happy." 

Once she left, Natsu gave Lucy a confused look. "Um… what was that about?"

"That's just how she is." Lucy shrugged. "Now, we're not getting any younger…" She began taking off the rest of her clothes and sauntering over to the main bedroom, but Natsu was still uneasy. 

"I dunno… I don't wanna hurt you…"

"Don't worry about that, hun. This is nothing I'm not used to." 

He decided to follow her into the bedroom, but he stopped her before she could get her underwear off. "Wait, seriously, do you really think it's gonna be okay? I mean, you've got stitches… what if they open up?"

"I told you, this isn't anything I'm not used to. I'll be fine." She pulled him into a kiss, hoping it'd lessen his worry. She couldn't be sure if his concerns were a good or a bad thing- this would mean that he cares about more than just sex with her, but it also means that she can't have him when she _seriously_ needs him.

Unbeknownst to Natsu, Lucy had called him with such urgency because she knew she was on the verge of losing it. She'd fallen asleep early last night, and woke up to a very angry Ignia pounding at her door. Their talk went exactly how she expected it to, but he was especially pissed at her for falling asleep before talking to him. She couldn't understand why he hadn't just woken her up last night if he was so serious about talking right at that moment, and apparently he didn't like her attitude. 

The gash on her side was honestly one of the less serious injuries she'd gotten from him, so it wasn't difficult to convince her staff that it had just been a mishap while she was working. It didn't make her feel any better that she couldn't vent her problems, though, and right now the best thing she could think of to relieve her stress was some good ol' cunnilingus. 

"I _really_ need you right now, Natsu… I'll answer your questions in return, remember?"

"But…" 

"...Is my wound the _only_ thing keeping you from doing this?" 

"Well, yeah-"

"Then there's nothing to worry about. You know I won't force you, but… If all you're worried about is _me_ , then...

Natsu knew he was being difficult, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to forgive himself if he ended up making her feel bad when she needed him to make her feel good. He wanted to make her happy, she seems to look better whenever she's happy. "Okay… you'll tell me to stop, right? If I accidentally hurt you?"

"...Well, of course." 

Natsu began to undress as Lucy removed her underwear and laid in the center of the bed. He had his back to her, giving her a nice view of his tattoos, muscles and ass. _So hot…_ She decided to get things started a bit, running her fingers over her folds and rubbing herself. "I _really_ wanted to taste you, but I think we'll need to have a change of plans…" 

Natsu turned to mount her on the bed, letting her pull him onto a slow, sensual kiss. His fingertips ghosted along her sides, wanting to touch her but afraid of being too rough. 

"Natsu…" Lucy separated from the kiss, mumbling into his lips.

"...Yeah?" He decided to trail her neck with light bites and sloppy kisses, not wanting to take his lips off of her for a second. 

"I want you to eat me out." 

Natsu gave her one more harsh suck before lifting his head to look at her face. She had that cute blush and sexy smirk, the combination nearly making his head spin. He eased his way down her body, caressing her with his hands as he wasn't entirely sure what to do with them. 

When he got to her core, Natsu decided not to keep her waiting. He ran his tongue over her folds, the taste of her immediately becoming his favorite. He brought his hand up to rub her clit with his thumb, hoping he was doing things right.

"Y-yes… Just like that…'' Lucy ran her hands through his hair as he continued to lick around her opening, her encouragement taking its effect. "Mmm… _yes_ …"

Natsu went back and forth between replacing his thumb to lick her bundle of nerves and diving his tongue inside her to lick around her entrance. "You taste _so_ good…" He mumbled, using one hand to spread her wider as he continued to taste her. 

"Ah _shit_ …" Both of Lucy's hands came down to tug on his hair. "F-finger me..!"

Natsu didn't disappoint, bringing 2 fingers up to her folds, wetting them with his tongue before inserting them slowly. He pumped them at a steady pace and wrapped his lips around her now swollen clit, the sound of her panting and mumbling praises acting as music to his ears. 

"C-curl your f-fingers…" He did as she said, curling his fingers and stroking her at an angle. "F-fuck! Just like that!" 

Lucy's grib on his hair turned harsh as her thighs unconsciously began to close in on his head. She shuddered in ecstasy, her orgasm hitting her hard. "Oh god…" 

"That was hot as fuck." As Natsu sat up he was immediately pulled by his shoulders to bring his face to hers, and she didn't hesitate to capture his lips and taste herself on his tongue. 

"Lay down." Lucy gently pushed him to lie on his back before laying on her side to face him. "You can ask your questions now…" She caressed him as she spoke, her hand trailing down to his rock-hard length before he could process what she said.

"I- Oh _shit_!" Natsu's head fell back when she started stroking him, starting at his tip and spreading his precum around him. "H-how am I supposed to t-think straight..?"

"Oh, I'll stop-"

"No!" He had no shame as he gripped her gloved wrist, stopping her from taking her hand away. "...Please don't stop…"

"Ah, you're _so_ fucking cute~" Lucy slowed her strokes to allow him to focus. 

After a few deep breaths, Natsu turned his head to look at her, taking in her lustful expression. "O-okay, um…" He had to look away as he realized the sensation was starting to become too much. "I wanna know who stabbed you…"

Lucy's hand came to an abrupt halt. "O-oh…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Il est mignon- He is cute  
> *Je sais, n'est-ce pas- I know, right


	15. Silly Boy (NSFW)

Lucy gulped loudly, hesitating for a second before going back to delivering her pleasuring strokes. The point of this would be to catch him off guard, making his thoughts jumbled so he couldn't think of any serious questions and wouldn't be able to think before he answered any of hers. It seems to have backfired, though…

"I was stabbed while working, the _client_ wasn't happy with the way I do things…" 

"Y-yeah, but… can you tell me their information? I could, u-um, I could do something about this…"

"Aw, you want to defend my honour?" She gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry about that, I already told you that aggressive clients are _dealt_ with~"

Natsu didn't immediately respond or ask anything else, letting himself enjoy the feeling of her latex glove on his member. He wished he could convince her to take the garment off, wanting to feel all of her, but he knew it was too soon for that. " _Ah_ … Damn…"

Lucy smiled at the way he moaned, the sounds he makes are _such_ a turn on to her. As she kissed along his neck, he finally collected his thoughts enough to ask another question. "Why did that lady, Virgo..? Why did she call you 'Princess'?" 

"She's always called me that, she's been working for my family since I moved here, and I'm not sure where she got the nickname from but I can't get her to stop."

"...Do you like being called that?"

"Hm… I guess I'm used to it." 

"W-would you like it if _I_ called you that?" 

Lucy stared into his eyes, a smirk making its way across her face. "You wanna call me 'Princess'?" When he gave her a small nod, she couldn't help but giggle. "Hm, well, I don't mind- you can call me whatever you want." 

Natsu realized that the nickname might be a little too embarrassing, so he started thinking of anything else he could call her. "...What if I called you something in French..?"

"Can you even pronounce words in French?" 

"...I have some friends who speak it…" Natsu closed his eyes for a bit as she seemed to have sped up her hand. "U-uh… I think I've heard them call each other _chéri_ or _amour_ …" 

Lucy wouldn't admit how much she likes hearing him speak French, or how much she's always wanted to be addressed in such a way by someone dear to her. " _Chéri_ means 'dear' or 'darling,' and _amour_ means 'love,' you could say _mon amour_ to call me 'my love,' but that's a pretty _intimate_ nickname. Makes no difference to me, though, so it's really up to you if you wanna call me that."

Now Natsu realized _those_ nicknames were super embarrassing as well. He'd have to think about it, maybe it was too soon to call her something like that. "Ah, if you keep jerking me off like this, I'm gonna cum-"

"That's kinda the point, silly." Her grip tightened as she fastened her pace. "C'mon, big boy. Cum for me~" 

Natsu groaned as he decided to give into her touches, lasting a minute longer before he was cumming all over her hand and his abdomen. "Goddamn…"

Lucy ran her finger over his skin, collecting his spunk on her glove and bringing it to her lips. "Mmm… Yummy~"

"Shit! You're gonna drive me crazy, woman!" 

Lucy giggled, loving her effect on him. She noticed he was still hard, and figured another round wouldn't hurt. "Straddle me." Natsu was a little confused, but he did as he was told.

"You're… pretty _stupid_ , you know that?" Lucy ran her hands over his abs and muscles. "Don't you know who I am and what I could do to you?"

"Y-yes… I know…"

"And yet, you still chose to trust me…"

"I _do_ trust you…"

"Silly boy… I'm gonna fuck you up, and you'll never be able to feel satisfied from anyone but _me_." She gripped his ass, getting ready to rock his world, but they both ended up yelping and nearly falling off the bed when the dresser in the room loudly crashed onto the ground. 

"What the fuck!?" Lucy sat up on the bed, looking over the fallen furniture and finding the small, blue culprit sitting amongst the chaos "This son of a-"

"Happy! Why would you do that!?" The cat meowed innocently as Natsu rushed to pick him up. "You attention hog!" 

Lucy sighed as the mood was completely ruined. She quickly got up to get a robe out of the bathroom and went to inspect the scene as she got dressed. "How the hell did he knock over this big ass dresser..?"

"He's stronger than he looks…" 

Lucy glared at the cat before leaving the room, leaving Natsu to groan and quickly throw on his boxers. "For fucks sake, Happy!" Happy only purred, not caring about the obvious irritation both humans had. He was just glad to have been the center of attention. 

When Natsu walked out of the room, he spotted Bunny as she was just changing her gloves. "I'm sorry about that…"

"Hm… it's fine. I just know my staff is gonna tease the hell out of me when I tell them I need the dresser fixed…" 

Natsu grabbed her waist from behind and pulled her towards him. The mood was ruined and his erection softened, but he felt guilty and wanted to make it up to her. He breathed in her hair and dipped his head down to flutter kisses along her neck, smirking when he thought of a great way to make her laugh. 

Lucy sighed in content before he suddenly blew a raspberry against her skin. "Pfft! That tickles!" She erupted into a fit of giggles, putting a big smile on Natsu's face.

"You're so cute…" He mumbled, tightening his hold on her.

"Am I?"

"Yeah, especially when you try to be intimidating."

"Eh? What do you mean, 'try'?"

"Oh c'mon, _'I'm gonna fuck you up'_?" It was super hot, but you're way too cute for me to take your threats seriously."

Lucy fell silent, idly tracing her finger along his arm before swiftly turning in his hold to face him. "Why..?"

Natsu noticed the look in her eyes. She looked _natural_ right now, and there seemed to be a pattern. It appears as though she's more herself after intimacy. "Well, I've heard a lot about you, but I knew from the moment I saw you singing that there was something more behind that hard exterior. And from what I've seen, I was right… I think you're just wildly misunderstood…"

 _Dammit… How can he know just what to say without even trying!?_ "Natsu, I…"

"See, your face is super red now! How could I not say you're cute?" 

"Shut up…" Lucy laughed, lightly pinching his sides to get him to slacken his hold on her. "Well, Mr. Charming, I believe I owe you some answers, so go on." She strutted over to the kitchenette and sat up on the counter. 

_Charming?_ "Right… yesterday, you said you wear gloves to hide… I know you said you didn't want to elaborate, but I wanna know how long you've been 'hiding' for."

"2 years."

 _Well, that was easy._ "Oh… and you've been active for 3?"

"Yep." 

"When did you move to America?"

"When I was 14."

"Oh wow…" Natsu's eyes widened, she's been doing criminal work for half the amount of time she's been in the country! "You haven't even been here for a decade…"

"Nope. I thought it was obvious, though. I mean, couldn't you tell by my accent?" 

"Honestly, you don't have much of an accent compared to most, for some reason…"

"Maybe it's , because ny mom is American. Well, she's French, but she was born and raised here before she moved to France to marry my dad. I've known English for as long as I've known French, and mama doesn't have an accent, so I guess that's why my own voice is like this." 

"Wait a second…" Her words triggered a memory. "...Do you know someone named Anna?" 

"...Anna?"

"Anna _Heartfilia_ …" The fact that she made the exact same expression that Anna made back at his appointment had Natsu believing he was truly on to something now. 

"...Why?"

"Anna is my therapist. You two just look so much alike… She said this place was a family business, but _you're_ the owner now, so…"

"...Anna is in _this_ city?" 

Natsu nodded, but he weakened his resolve when he realized she was getting emotional. "Hey, you okay?" He walked over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

"...So she's doing alright, huh? I'm glad…" Lucy wiped her eyes and smiled at nothing before composing herself and looking at him dangerously. "...You didn't tell her about me, did you?"

"Uhhh… kinda? I mean, it's not like I know your name, I just kinda sorta described you and told her you owned this hotel…"

Lucy groaned as she facepalmed. She couldn't blame him, it's not his fault that he's curious, but after 3 years of keeping things under wraps… "Anna thinks that I'm dead, Natsu."

"...Um, come again?"

"I faked my death when I became 'Bunny.' It was to not only hide my identity better, but to get those close to me to stay away from this area. Anna must not have been afraid enough to leave… I'm sure you scared her shitless when you told her about me, though."

Natsu needed a minute to process things, this would be _very_ important information. "Wait, so you _are_ related to her, right?"

"She's my great aunt."

"...So, what you're saying is… your last name is Heartfilia..?" 

Lucy smirked. "Nope, I'm married." 

As panic set in Natsu's features, Lucy burst into laughter, nudging his shoulder teasingly. "Relax, you're so fun to mess with! My last name is indeed Heartfilia." 

Now it was Natsu's turn to smirk. Having her last name would make finding information _much_ easier. Oddly enough, she didn't seem concerned at all… _She's underestimating me…_

"Well, that's enough about me, yes? I wanted to ask you about something."

"Sure, _I've_ got nothing to hide." 

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I want you to tell me about your tattoos." 

That childish grin returned to Natsu's face. He hadn't met a new person in a long time, so he hadn't gotten to talk about his tattoos to anyone for a while. He wasn't sure why, but talking about them made him happy. "Well, I'm sure you know that this one is my gang symbol." He took her hand and placed it over the red tattoo on his shoulder. 

"Yes, this one is my favorite~"

"Mhm, and this one," He placed her hand on his right forearm. "Is a dragon, 'cause dragons are cool as fuck."

Lucy giggled as he continued. "This is the outline of a flame, 'cause that shit's also really cool." He grinned as he held her hand on his left forearm. 

"And the ones on your back..?"

"Yeah," Natsu turned around and pointed at the back of his thigh. "This one is my most recent. It's a blue cat, I got it when I got Happy." 

"Aw, that one is cute! I didn't even notice it."

"Yeah, a lot of people never see it. The rest are words, like here," He ran his finger over his neck, pointing out the kanji there. "This says _'Wake from death and return to life,'_ it's something my brother always says, so I got it for him… and this one," He couldn't quite reach, but Lucy knew he was talking about the one down the middle of his back, "This one is kinda corny… It was the first one I got, it says ' _Live_ _for the future,'_ in Hindi. I got it because of my dad…"

"Natsu?" He had suddenly gone quiet, causing Lucy to jump down from the counter to rub circles into his back. "What's wrong?" Natsu stared at nothing in silence, minutes going by before he turned to look at her intensely. She backed up a little, not liking the way his eyes seemed unfocused. "A-are you okay?"

"...I should probably get going soon." As if nothing happened, Natsu's face went back to his easy smile. "I told myself I'd go get some work done today, so…"

"Um… okay…" She decided not to acknowledge his weird behavior for now. "Oh, you left your clothes here last night, I can go get it for you along with a change of clothes."

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks." Natsu whistled, alerting Happy and accidentally catching Plue's attention too. "We're leaving soon, bud!" He called, getting his groceries he'd left in the kitchen in order. 

As Lucy took their dirty clothes and left towards the laundry room, she decided that she'd snoop around a little today. Natsu completely froze up after mentioning his father, and she wasn't sure if that was the specific reason for his odd behavior or not, but she was sure she'd find out. He really has some nerve saying she's not intimidating, as if she isn't capable of finding out things about him that even _he_ doesn't know.

There was a silver lining, though. As long as he lets his guard down, the easier this process will be.


	16. Boss

Natsu whistled as he neared the large building that worked as the gang hideout. After getting home and giving Happy a stern talking to, he felt oddly energized. Maybe he should _always_ meet up with Bunny before going into work, if it'll mean he'll always be in a good mood like this. 

Walking into the building, everything was normal. At least, everything _seemed_ normal until he spotted Erza making a beeline for him.

"Natsu! Finally you're here, you have to hurry to your office!" She grabbed his wrist and started rushing him further into the building. "I was worried you wouldn't come in today!"

Struggling to keep up with his frantic superior, Natsu grew weary. "What's going on, Erza?" 

"The boss is here!"

"...Wait, Boss is here _now_!?"

"Yes! And you're the only one she hasn't seen today!" 

Natsu knew the boss was due to come by soon, but not _this_ soon. It wasn't like they work on the clock- there's no set time that they're obligated to be here- but someone of Natsu's class would be expected to have many hours, especially if they want to ever rank higher. Not only that, but the boss is treated with the utmost respect, so for him to have kept her waiting is a huge dishonour. 

"How come you didn't tell me she was here?"

"I _did_! I texted you, but you didn't answer! What were you doing this morning that could have you so distracted?" Erza slowed down as her voice softened. "...You haven't been feeling down lately, have you?"

"Nah, I'm alright." He appreciated her concern, but he knew he had to be vague. "I just had to go to the store, and you know how that always goes…"

"Oh, well… I'm glad you could come in today. Would you like me to stay with you during your examination?" 

"No, it's fine." Erza was _definitely_ the mom-friend. She was always doing things with their best interest in mind, but Natsu felt more like a burden lately. As he always said, he didn't need anyone holding his hand forever. Well, maybe _sometimes_ , but still.

"Okay… Well, I'll tell her you're here." 

Natsu checked himself in his phone camera before walking into his office. He had already taken a shower before coming here, but he still didn't want to risk having any evidence of today's earlier activities on him. The boss is _very_ observant, and the slightest thing could give him away.

He was able to hear her nearing his door, the sound of her small- and usually bare- feet was very distinct. She didn't knock, entering the room and quickly shutting the door. Natsu sat up straight and waited for her to greet him first. 

After a minute of looking around his office in silence, she smiled. "Hey, little bro!" 

Natsu smiled as she gave him a hug. "Hey, Mavis." 

"How've you been?" Mavis held his shoulders and looked him up and down. "You look good!"

"Thanks, I've actually been better than usual." 

"That's great!" She pulled up one of the seats in the office and sat across from him. "Well, there's some important things I wanna talk to you about."

"I'm listening..."

"Well…" Mavis' face broke out into a blush. "...Zeref and I are engaged." 

"...You're engaged?" Natsu's eyes slowly widened. "...You're engaged! Since when!?" 

"I proposed to him during my last visit. At first he was all like 'We can't get married, look at me!' But we decided we'll elope once he's free." 

"This is great news, Boss! I didn't even know they allowed you to do something like that during visits." 

"Mhm, it was very lackluster, but that's okay. I asked him around the end of the visit, we couldn't really touch each other, but that was the most emotional I've seen him in a while… It ended up being a little embarrassing since the guards had to console me before I went home because I couldn't stop crying…" 

"Aw, c'mere…" Natsu pulled her into a hug when he realized she was tearing up. "He'll be out before ya know it."

"Y-yeah… I think we're getting close to finding who framed him, I can just feel it." 

"Yeah, that's the spirit." 

"Speaking of which, how has work been going? And good leads?"

"Um…" Here comes the conversation he's been dreading… "Well, I haven't done a lot of jobs recently, and the last one I did… I kinda slacked off…"

"Why?"

"Um…" He hated whenever he had to do this. Mavis reminded him of his mother, she has such a good poker face that he can't tell if she's angry with him or not. "I was distracted… I'm surprised Gramps didn't tell you."

"He did."

"Huh?"

"Makarov _did_ tell me. I was only trying to see if you would tell me yourself." 

If he told her about how he slacked off on his last job, Makarov must've told her _why_ , too. "Well, I promise I'll make it up…"

"I know you will, don't worry." Mavis had that knowing look in her eye, and Natsu dreaded what he knew she would say.

"...Boss-"

"Natsu."

"Y-yes?"

"Tell me, how was your date with 'Bunny'?" 

_Yep, there it is…_ "Oh no." Natsu groaned and hid his face in his hands. "How'd you find out?" 

"Well, Makarov told me that you spent your last job chatting it up with her. After that, I heard that you went on a date, and knowing you, I was able to put two and two together." Surprisingly, Mavis seemed more amused than disappointed. 

"Please don't be mad at me…" If there was one thing he knew, it was that his sister-in-law had a soft spot for him, so maybe he could convince her not to kick his ass for this.

Mavis looked at him blankly, knowing well enough that he was trying to get out of being reprimanded. "Natsu, I'm not mad at you, I'm just concerned. I know everyone already told you this, though."

"Yes, those were some of the most annoying days _ever_." 

"Well, you already know what I think about this. But, there's something you should know about your little lady-friend."

"Uh huh?" Natsu had a feeling that despite how wise the boss is, she couldn't possibly know any more than he does. 

"She has affiliations with the Tartaros gang."

"...She _what_?" 

* * *

"I can't believe you couldn't go _one day_ without messing around! You're injured, for fucks sake!"

"I know, and I'm fine. I don't understand why you're so pressed about this."

"I'm 'pressed' because you never take your injuries seriously! I don't give a fuck how skilled you think you are, no one is invincible."

"Ugh, I _know_ , okay? I wouldn't have done anything I knew I couldn't handle!"

"You're too carefree, Lucy."

"And _you_ worry too much, Aquarius." 

Aquarius mumbled under her breath, knowing this conversation wouldn't be going anywhere. She loves her, but Lucy is always on her last nerve. "Don't come crying to me if you're stitches open, then." 

Lucy slumped in the passenger seat, not in the mood to continue talking. She didn't want to be sitting in this car being driven to her house, but she had no choice. Ignia called Aquarius and asked her to chauffeur her, probably because he knew Lucy wouldn't have driven here herself. She had to practically be dragged into the car.

"I don't feel like being here."

"I know you don't, but your husband is my boss, too." 

"You don't have to take his orders, though. Why don't you just quit? I could raise your pay at the hotel..." 

"Then I wouldn't have an excuse to look after you." Aquarius stared straight ahead at the road, ignoring the surprised glance Lucy gave. Having been her governess since she was a child, Aquarius has always been around, so it made sense that she stuck around after Lucy had gotten married, too. Now she's the _household's personal_ _assistant_ , meaning Ignia got to bark orders at her.

"Why do you hate being home so much?"

"I hate my husband."

"...Why?"

Lucy could hear the worry in Aquarius' voice. "...He just annoys me."

"And… what's keeping you from getting a divorce, then?" 

"...Papa." 

"Mhm…" She knew well enough how _that_ goes. Growing up in a life of business must be exhausting, considering Lucy would be forced to do things as serious as _marriage_ all for the sake of some company. 

As they neared the Heartfilia estate, Lucy felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. Ignia was outside smoking a cigar, and she just _knew_ he'd been waiting for her this whole time. She couldn't understand why, though. _Was the stab wound not enough punishment?_

"Lucy."

"H-huh?"

"We're here." 

"O-oh right, sorry, I spaced out…" She put her hand on the door handle, but couldn't bring herself to open it. Ignia was starting _right_ at her, and he was always unpredictable, so she didn't know what he might possibly do to her. The second she leaves this car and enters that house, there will be no more safe havens.

"Lucy? What're you waiting for?"

"Oh-" She whipped around to take in Aquarius' confused expression. "Um… I just wanted to say… I love you, bye!" She opened the door and made a plan to rush into the backyard so it'd be harder for Ignia to find her, but she was halted by a hand on her shoulder. 

"Wait…" Now that she was touching her, Aquarius could feel that Lucy was shaking. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just… tired…"

"...Lucy, are you… _scared_?" 

"What? No!"

Aquarius stared into her eyes. She knew this girl since she was a little kid, and she could tell when something was wrong. Looking over at Ignia, who was still waiting I'm front of the house, she got a sickly feeling. "...Your husband… He doesn't do anything to _hurt_ you, does he?"

Lucy's shoulders fell as she fought the urge to break down right there. No matter how much she wished she could tell the truth, she knew she couldn't. "No, not at all. He's just _really_ annoying… I just don't want to be bothered."

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes. You know I'd tell you if something serious happened." 

"...If you're really sure, then fine." 

Once Aquarius released her, Lucy whistled, alerting Plue to jump from the back seat and into her lap. She took one more deep breath, and decided to go in through the front after all, not wanting to put Aquarius on edge any more than she already had.

" _Nous y revoilà_ _…_ " She mumbled under her breath. Ignia gave her that annoying, fake smile as she walked past him, and she shuddered at the way he practically slammed the door shut. 

"Where is Aquarius going?"

"To her second job." Lucy wouldn't tell him about the hotel, not wanting to risk losing the only place she could run to when she wanted to have a break.

"Where have you been?"

"Out."

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Not wanting to be hit right now, she obliged, but she took a few steps back. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been _out_." 

"That's not a fucking answer!" Ignia got louder and closer, causing Plue to growl in Lucy's arms.

"I just went around the town, okay? What, did you expect me to stay here after you _stabbed_ me!?"

"I _expect_ you not to keep secrets from me." 

"Oh, whatever." She began walking away towards the stairs. All she wanted right now was to lock herself in her room and bury herself under her covers. Honestly, _anything_ sounded more appealing than being near this man.

"Wait, baby."

 _Here he goes with the fucking pet names!_ "Please, I just want to be alone."

"Wait…" Ignia grabbed her arm, causing her to freeze up in panic. "I'm sorry that I hurt you this morning." 

"No you're not." Lucy didn't look at him, keeping her eyes shut tightly and hugging Plue close to her. "You'll do it again, you always do."

"I just don't want you being disobedient, babe. As long as you listen to me, our marriage has a better chance of working out."

"Get your hand off of me." 

"I love you, you know that? I just want you to be your very best. You can be good, you just need some _encouragement_ … My good little Bunny-"

"Get your fucking hand off of me!" 

Just as she should've known, her tone caused her to receive a harsh smack to her face. She dropped Plue, he was barking and growling, and she didn't want anything to be taken out on him. The dog immediately stood over her leg protectively, and she regretted how he always had to witness things like this. 

"See what you make me do? Now your cheek is all red…" Ignia gripped her chin roughly. "If you would just behave, things wouldn't have to be this way."

"...Why can't you just leave me alone..?" 

"I want you. Right now." 

"Ignia… please let me go..." 

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him, the feeling of his lips against her neck making her hold in a gag. "Stop!" She pushed him away, knowing it would only make him angry but feeling like she'd rather be hit than touched in this way. 

"Would you stop being so difficult you little-" His phone began to ring, causing him to walk away to answer and her to sigh in relief. He stopped her as she picked Plue up again, holding up his hand. "It's Jude." Lucy stopped as she listened to Ignia say a few words before putting the phone on speaker. 

**_"Lucienne?"_ **

"Y-yes, Papa?" 

**_"How are you?"_ **

"...I've been better…" Ignia glared at her, clearly not liking how honest she could be when it came to her father. 

_**"Oh dear… Well, I have some good news."** _

" _Oui_ , Papa?" 

**_"I'll be in America for a few weeks. There's an expansion within the company. I'll be coming by to talk to you two about how this'll affect you."_ **

"When?" Ignia knew it wouldn't be wise to leave any noticeable damage anywhere if her father was coming by soon.

**_"Well, I'll be there for 3 weeks, so anytime that works for you is fine."_ **

"...I'll have to get back to you on that." 

**_"Very well, just give me a call-"_ **

"W-wait, Papa..?"

**_"Yes?"_ **

Lucy looked over at Ignia, knowing this would be a risky move, but she _had_ to take the chance. "Could I borrow some money?"

**_"...Money? Why?"_ **

"There's a jewelry set I want, but Ignia won't let me get it…" She could feel the anger radiating off of him.

**_"...Ah, il ne vous laisse pas dépenser?"_ **

" _Il ne le fera pas…_ " 

**_"Okay, my dear. I'll send you some money."_ **

" _Merci_ , Papa…" 

**_"...Ignia, may I have a word with you?"_** Ignia gave Lucy a hard glare, silently threatening her for putting him in this situation. He turned the phone off speaker and left to speak in private, allowing her to finally go to her room.

Lucy felt relieved that her father called, but now she'll have to deal with the punishment that comes from telling him about one of her problems with her husband. She didn't regret it, though, because not only did this occupy Ignia, but this would just pile on to the list of complaints she's revealed to her father. Hopefully this would eventually persuade him into allowing her to finally get a divorce.

"I'm so tired, Plue." Lucy mumbled, but she knew her work wasn't done today. There was still a pink haired cutie that she needed to do some digging on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today (3/3/21) is my birthday! ♡
> 
> *Nous y revoilà- Here we are again  
> *Il ne vous laisse pas dépenser- He won't let you spend  
> *Il ne le fera pas- He won't  
> *Oui- Yes  
> *Merci- Thank you


	17. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this chapter is a phone call, so the writing format is a bit different than usual.

"She has affiliations with the Tartaros gang."

"...She _what_?"

Natsu didn't want to believe the words coming out of his boss' mouth. She doesn't know her like he does, she couldn't _possibly_ be right about this. He wouldn't believe it.

"I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her."

"...But, I… I think she's a good person, she just makes bad decisions. Maybe this is all a misunderstanding…"

Mavis frowned, knowing exactly how he must feel. "Have you fallen for her?"

"N-... Yes." Natsu blushed, not meeting her eyes. "Yes I have…" Even if he hadn't admitted it, he knew Mavis could tell. There was no point in denying it, he was truly crazy about this girl. 

"Oh, Natsu. I know it's hard, and I must sound like a huge hypocrite. I fell for a criminal, too, but there's a huge difference from someone who's made mistakes and is misunderstood, and someone who's pretending to be someone they're not in order to get close to you." 

"You don't know her."

"Pardon?"

"You don't know her. At least, you don't know her like I do." He didn't want to be rude, but Mavis _is_ being a hypocrite. Maybe if she would've said this 3 weeks ago, he would've been able to believe her, but now he's seen and learned too much to rule Bunny out as some cold-blooded criminal. "I trust her." 

"You only know what she _lets_ you know, Natsu."

"No… I think she _wants_ me to figure her out, she's just playing hard to get. I mean it, I've seen her be herself. Whoever her boss is, that guy has just been exploiting her, it seems. I bet it's not her fault she's done some dirty work for Tartaros."

Mavis ran her hand through her hair as she sighed. "Natsu, what will you do if you turn out to be wrong?"

"I know what I'm talking about, okay? I thought you of all people would be able to understand…" 

"Hey," She grabbed his face, making him look into her eyes. "When I chose to be with Zeref, I was risking nothing but my _own_ well-being. _You_ are putting _everyone_ at risk, and it's my job to prevent something like this from happening."

"How did _you_ feel when your family said these things to _you_?" He immediately regretted saying that, the look on her face showing that was still a sensitive subject for her. It didn't mean he meant it any less, though.

"...I want to meet her."

"Y-you do?"

"Let me see for myself, then we'll continue this conversation. In the meantime..." She stood and opened the door, ready to make her leave. "Get some work done." 

_Oh, I'll get some work done, alright…_ Now alone, Natsu immediately turned to his computer to do some research on the name "Heartfilia."

* * *

Lucy wiped the tears from her eyes as she entered the hotel. Thankfully, things were busy, so no one paid her any mind as she took the elevator to the top floor. Hopefully Aquarius wouldn't see her right now, she'd been worried enough for one day. 

"I don't know how long we can keep this up, Plue. I'm gonna have to kill him." Plue whined, sensing his owner's distress. She didn't even care about what Ignia had done to _her_ , but the moment he laid a finger on her baby, she snapped. "We probably should lay low for a bit… He's not gonna let me live this down for a while…" 

She walked into her suite and flopped down on the couch in the main room. The room was dead silent and dim, the only light coming from the moon. Lucy usually found comfort in the solitude like this, just her, Plue and the moonlight. However, now that she's gotten a taste of affection, she couldn't help but feel lonely at a time like this.

"That man has really messed me up, huh?" She spoke to no one as she turned to look at the TV stand, the small vase of pink roses settled atop of it. She stood up to brush her fingers along the petals, this being the first time she's touched them without gloves. "Yep… I'm _really_ messed up now…" 

She sighed, lowering her head so it hit the stand. "I need a cigarette…"

Plue barked, causing her to roll her eyes. "I didn't say I was gonna actually _get_ one, just that I need it." She looked back up at the roses, admiring their colour. "...Maybe I should call him."

After a few minutes of mentally debating if she'd seem desperate if she called him when they _just_ saw each other this morning, Lucy gave in. She was a little surprised that he didn't answer the first time she called, and was honestly a little worried. _It's late, maybe he's just asleep…_ For some reason, the thought of him purposefully missing her calls made her uneasy. _Get a grip, Lucy! This guy's crazy about you- he must be asleep!_

**_"Yo?"_ **

Lucy squealed, quickly covering her mouth when she realized it was just her phone. "Natsu? Were you sleeping?"

**_"...Maybe."_ **

"I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone-"

**_"Nah, it's cool, what do you need?"_ **

"I…" It was only now that she realized she truly didn't have a reason for calling him. "I just wanted to talk…"

_**"Talk about what?"** _

"I dunno… maybe you could ask me some more questions?" Yep, she's _definitely_ desperate. 

**_"Funny you say that, actually. I was planning on talking to you about something serious."_ **

"What is it?"

**_"...I got in a lot of trouble with my boss because of you."_ **

"...Oh?"

**_"Yeah… long story short, she wants to meet you."_ **

Lucy giggled. "Yeah? Mavis Vermillion wants to meet _me_? That'll be fun."

**_"...How did you know her name?"_ **

"Just like I know everything else. Did you think I would mess with someone in a gang without knowing about their leader?" 

**_"You gotta tell me how you're so good at finding information. This is one of the reasons my gang doesn't trust you, y'know."_ **

She scoffed, not liking the reminder. "Let's just say… unlike you vigilantes, I'm not afraid of getting _dirty_." 

Natsu went quiet, so she decided to ask something that just crossed her mind. "Wait, so what is your boss trying to do when she meets me?"

**_"Um… Well, she knows we've been meeting up, and she said she'll decide if she'll allow it once she meets you."_ **

"Hm…" It had never occurred to her that Natsu couldn't just break rules like she does. "Wait…" After looking through some information on him and his gang earlier today, there were some things Lucy had learned that led her to believe that her plan would work out after all, but she wasn't sure if she should reveal her knowledge now.

**_"Hm?"_ **

"I…" She decided to be vague. "I thought your gang was _full_ of people who couldn't be trusted… What's it matter if you hook up with someone like me?" 

His gruffy laughter had her feeling like she'd just melt. **_"That's literally what I've been saying! They really don't trust you, though."_**

Lucy knew that, hell, she made herself come off this way on purpose. At least, she used to, but that was because she had never cared about what someone thought of her until now. "What do you think would make your boss trust me?" 

**_"Honestly? I don't know. I mean, she just got engaged to my brother who's in prison! You'd think she'd be more understanding…"_ **

"Woah woah, what did you just say? Your brother's in prison? And your boss is engaged to him? Wait… your boss is your _sister-in-law_!?" 

He snickered again, making her wish she could see that easy grin on his face that he had whenever he laughed. **_"Ooh, finally something you didn't already know~"_**

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Ugh, just elaborate, please?"

**_"Yeah, yeah… She and my brother dated since they were super young… I think even before high school. He ended up going to prison about 10 years ago, but it was for a crime he didn't commit. Mavis was really mad that the justice system failed him, so she started the gang because she knew she could prove he was innocent herself. I mean, it's gotten a lot bigger since then, and we were able to take down a lot of people that the justice system overlooked, but… my brother's still locked up."_ **

"...No way…" 

**_"What?"_ **

"Your brother is Zeref Dragneel, isn't he?" 

**_"...What makes you say that?"_ **

Lucy rubbed at her arm nervously, a wave of uneasiness crashing over her. "Zeref Dragneel was one of the biggest threats back in the day. I've heard a lot about him from my boss… I didn't want to imagine you two were brothers, you don't seem _anything_ alike…"

**_"...Yep, he's my brother. I lived with him for a year before he went to prison, after that I was in foster care for a bit before my mom adopted me."_ **

"...What about before that? Were you with your father? You kinda spaced out when you mentioned him earlier."

**_"Sorry about that, I was trying to stop myself from getting angry, I didn't realize I spaced out long enough for you to notice…"_ **

"No worries, I just wanna know if you're comfortable with talking about him…"

**_"Yeah. My birth parents died when I was like 5, my dad, Igneel, lived in Japan at the time… He adopted me and my brother, and we lived with him until I was 11. He just suddenly went missing one day… Zeref was a lot like you at that time- doing dirty work to get whatever information he could about my dad… and then he was at the wrong place at the wrong time and got locked up after being framed."_ **

"Do you know who framed him?"

_**"No… well, we suspect the gang Tartaros, since they were the last affiliations he's had-"** _

"Tartaros..?"

**_"...Does that sound familiar?"_ **

Lucy couldn't shake the feeling that his tone was a little more aggressive now. "Yes, my boss worked with them."

**_"Just your boss?"_ **

"Well, if my boss worked with them then I automatically had to, too. I don't like them, they're all shady and twisted. I wouldn't put it past them to have framed your brother." 

**_"...I trust you."_ **

"...Huh?"

**_"I said I trust you."_ **

"Um… okay, thanks..? I trust you too." There was a long silence, and Lucy thought for a while that he'd fallen back asleep until she heard him yawn.

**"** **_I think we've talked more about_ ** **me** **_than_ ** **you** **_tonight._ ** **"**

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I'll make it up to you the next time we meet."

**_"...What do you take me for?"_ **

His question confused her, she wasn't sure if she'd said anything wrong. "What do you mean?"

**_"I… what am I to you?"_ **

"I think it's safe to say that we're friends, Natsu. Well, I suppose 'friends-with-benefits' would be a more accurate title…"

**_"You're a nice girl. I can tell."_ **

"Geez, what're you saying all of a sudden?" Lucy giggled quietly. "Is this how you get when you're drowsy?"

**_"Heh, yeah. I'm also kinda buzzed. Been drinking a few beers before bed."_ **

"Ah, I should let you sleep, then."

**_"M'kay. I meant what I said, there's something special about ya. I don't care about what anyone else says, I can see it."_ **

Lucy bit her lip, his words resonating deep down within her. He would never know just how much she needed to hear that right now. It felt good to know that there was someone who could see past the puppet Ignia turned her into. "Goodnight, Natsu."

_**"Night."** _

Once he hung up, Lucy let out a long, drawled out sigh. Hearing Natsu say such kind things made her feel guilty about all of this. Here he was truly trusting her, risking his role in his gang to give her a chance, and she's using him. "I'm a monster…" She flopped down on the couch and groaned. "A horrible, _horrible_ monster." 

Plue jumped on top of her, walking in a few circles before lying down on her stomach. "You're right, Plue. It's not my fault." She closed her eyes, imagining that rose coloured hair and charming grin. "I _have_ to be free… we deserve a better life than this… It's a shame that Natsu has to be involved, but it's the only way. I'm _so_ tired of my plans failing…" 

Despite her words, she still didn't feel any better about what she's doing. "Ugh… Maybe, once we're finally free, if he doesn't feel betrayed… I could still be his friend..?" Plue groaned, signaling he was too sleepy to pay attention right now.

"...I need a cigarette."


	18. Possessive pt.1

  
"Okay, now, what do you do if you get injured?"

"Tell Erza immediately."

"And if you get lost?"

"Don't move, don't talk to strangers, and try to contact Erza."

"And if you're in a dangerous situation?"

"Use the mace."

"Or..?"

"... _Or_ call for Erza... I think I got it, Natsu." 

"Better safe than sorry." Natsu checked Wendy's belongings for the umpteenth time. "Can't have you getting into any trouble on your first job, can we?"

"Erza will be there, I'll be fine. It's not like we're doing anything dangerous, we're just going to the animal shelter!" Wendy rolled her eyes as her brother fixed her clothes again. "Calm down..."

"I can't be calm, you're going out without me… I know the animal shelter doesn't sound dangerous, but you gotta expect the worst when doing work like this. How're your reflexes?" He threw a punch, feeling proud when she immediately caught his fist. 

"I think she's ready." Erza smiled as she ruffled Wendy's hair. "This _is_ very exciting, though. I'm sure you're gonna do great!" 

"Yeah!" The girls headed towards the exit. "I'll do my very best!" 

"Alright, kid. I'll pick you up at 9."

Wendy pouted, sporting her big puppy-like eyes. "Can it be 10? Erza's letting me stay over after the job, and we were gonna do each other's nails…" 

Reluctantly, Natsu gave in. "Alright, I'll get you at 10." He gave her a kiss on her forehead and leaned closer to whisper, "Seriously, if you get hurt, Mom will kill me." 

"Don't worry!" She gave him a big grin as she and Erza left, and he had to stop himself from going after her. 

"How come you're not going with them?" Gray asked, also feeling a little anxious about Wendy's first job.

"I really wanted to, but I'm busy today…" 

"Ah, 'bout to take a case?"

"Nah, I just finished one yesterday, actually. But I've got a date in like 2 hours." 

"You _what_!?" Gajeel, who had also been seeing Wendy off, couldn't believe his ears. "A _date_?" 

"Ohoho~ You're a bit late!" Cana strolled by and wrapped her arm around Natsu's shoulders. "He's been seeing some girl for a couple weeks now, haven't you?" She threw him a wink, earning an exasperated sigh. 

"Yeah… So anyway, I'm busy, and she _really_ wanted to go with Erza, so…" 

"Wait, back up for a second… You've been seeing a girl for _weeks_? How come I didn't know about this?" Gajeel was sure this was some kind of prank, the thought of Natsu suddenly being in a relationship just too far-fetched. 

"You couldn't make it when we all gathered at Natsu's to congratulate him on his first date. He won't tell us much, but we know he's been seeing the same girl several times since then, which was, like, 2 weeks ago." Gray was trying to have Natsu's back here, hoping Gajeel wouldn't be too curious about who the girl is.

Likewise, Natsu felt antsy about it, too. "Well… I'm gonna go get ready to leave." He retreated to his own office, not giving any more room for conversation. 

"What the hell…" Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "You say he won't tell ya who it is?" 

"Nope, and none of us know why." Cana sighed. "He probably thinks we won't like her. Or, _she_ won't like _us_ … It doesn't matter, though, whatever gets him out the house, amiright?" 

"Hm…" Gajeel was clearly suspicious, making Gray more and more anxious. There was a chance he'd ask his wife about this- Levy was _amazing_ at finding information- but Gray was sure that Gajeel didn't care that much… _He wouldn't, right..?_

* * *

Natsu turned off his office's lights and power walked down the hall. Hopefully, he wouldn't run into anyone on his way out. 

"Salamander."

 _Ah, shit_. "...Yeah?"

Gajeel leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed, looking over his cousin's outfit. Never had he ever seen Natsu actually put together an outfit, at least not one that didn't look bad. "Where are you going?"

"I already told you, I've got a date-"

" _Where_ is the date?"

"...Why? You gonna spy on me?"

Gajeel barked out a laugh, shaking his head. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm just tryna figure out why you're trying to keep this a secret."

"Well _first of all_ , I don't even know where that date is, she's surprising me." Realizing that he was keeping her waiting right now, Natsu wanted to hurry this conversation along. "Look, I'm not ready to mix my friendships and my… _other_ relationships yet, just give me time." 

"...So yer tellin' me that no one knows about her? You haven't been getting help from _anyone_? You just happened to go out with her on your own?" 

"Um, yeah? I'm a grown man, I can do shit by myself."

"Except, you have 0 knowledge on this kinda thing, and you've never shown interest in it until now… it just doesn't make sense." 

"I don't always talk about what I'm into."

"Okay, can you just tell me when and how you managed to meet this girl in the first place?"

"Nope." 

"Why?"

"Because I don't wanna have this conversation. Besides, even if I tell you a little bit, everyone will find out and will want to try and get more out of me. My lips are sealed until… until she's ready to meet you all." 

The two had a stare down, both annoyed with the way the conversation was going and neither wanting to back down. Natsu checked the watch on his wrist and realized he didn't have any time for this. "Whatever, I'm going, I don't want my motion sickness pills to wear off before I even see her…" 

Gajeel let him leave, figuring it'd be easier to go about this on his own. He wasn't sure what could possibly cause Natsu to be so secretive. It wasn't that he didn't want to respect his privacy, but Gajeel felt uneasy about whoever could be dating his little cousin. 

Natsu hasn't been himself in a long time, and if things turn out badly with this chick, it could be detrimental. He wouldn't forgive himself if he let someone break his cousin's heart.

* * *

"Stupid Gajeel… making me late…" Natsu grumbled to himself as he neared the meet-up location. "Shit, I forgot to ask her what kind of car she drives…" Just as he pulled out his phone, a rose gold Lamborghini rounded the corner and entered the secluded parking lot he was in. 

"Woah…" Natsu gaped at the car, having never seen one this colour. "...Cool!"

"What're you waiting for?" Lucy rolled her window down and smirked, noticing he was still shy about entering the vehicle. "C'mon!"

"R-right." Despite knowing he'd already taken the proper medication, getting in a car still made him feel a little queasy. "Nice car."

"Thanks." She gave him a kind smile once he got in the passenger seat. "It's new."

"You must really like 'rose'."

"Eh, my favorite colour is actually _blue_ , but I already have a blue car, and this one was just too cute to pass up." She started along the streets, taking a short cut to her surprise location.

"...Geez, just how rich _are_ you?" Natsu leaned back, deciding to enjoy the experience of riding in a Lambo while he had the chance.

"...Don't worry about that." Lucy turned to glance at him for a second before turning back to the road. "You look good."

"So do you, but that's nothing new." 

She laughed, hoping the blush on her face wasn't too obvious. "Always the charmer, aren't you?"

"Just bein' honest." Natsu smirked as he appreciated his effect on her. "So, where are we going?"

"Hm… You'll see." 

"Ah c'mon, I'm dying to know. I wasn't sure if I overdressed or not."

"Oh honey, one of my mottos is that you can _never_ overdress." As they stopped at a light, Lucy ran her hand over Natsu's suit jacket. "You're dressed perfectly, though. Dark blue is really your colour." 

"Yeah?" He wasn't wearing a full-on business suit, just nice pants and a navy jacket over a white t-shirt, but _she_ was only wearing a lacy tank top and high-waisted slacks. And of course, those damned shoulder length gloves. "I like your hair."

Lucy was loving the attention, having had styled her hair in hopes he'd notice. It was a simple middle part and loose curls, but she was glad her efforts were appreciated. "Thanks~"

The two enjoyed each other's company, letting the quiet radio fill their comfortable silence. As Lucy began humming to the music, Natsu couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was just so cute, and he had a feeling she noticed him staring.

Subtly, he reached his hand over to grip her thigh. She flinched for a moment, but quickly relaxed to his touch. Normally, Lucy would hate spontaneous contact like this, but she couldn't help but feel comfortable around Natsu. Especially now, with the way he began stroking her thigh up and down. 

"Patience, Salamander."

"My bad, I can't keep my hands to myself when I'm with you." 

She glanced over at his cheeky grin, rolling her eyes in amusement. "You're _such_ a dork."

"Oh? Says the girl who bought her dog a Frozen sweater."

"Hey! Plue and I are big fans, okay? And I only got him that for our trip to Disney World."

"You went to Disney World? When would you have had the time..?" Natsu closed his eyes in thought. He'd learned that Plue is a year old, and if she's been "Bunny" for 3 years, then they would've had to have gone while she's been active. She's also _always_ busy, she'd told him that the only free time she has is the time she spends with him. 

"Oh, funny story, actually." Lucy chuckled humorlessly. "That was during the period of time when I ran away."

"...Ran away from what?"

"...From everything, I guess. I just needed a break, and I figured Disney World was the best place to unwind." 

"What'd your boss say when he found out?" 

"Hm…" The last thing Lucy wanted to do right now was talk about that asshole. "He wasn't happy."

Natsu noticed she got uncomfortable, making him even more curious. He'd always suspected that her boss has been hard on her, and likely unethical. Whoever he is, he's gotta have _something_ over, because each day it becomes more and more clear that this isn't the type of life she wants. 

"We're here." Lucy mumbled, pulling into a packed parking lot.

At first glance, Natsu thought they were at a restaurant, but as she drove towards a closed off part of the lot, he was able to read the sign on the side of the building. 

"...Um, is this a strip club?"

"Yep!" She looked oddly bubbly. "Ever been to one before?" 

"Yeah, for my friend's birthday once, but… not somewhere I'd imagine going to for a _date_ …"

Lucy simply snickered as she got out the car. "Just thought it'd be fun." 

Though he couldn't say he particularly enjoyed clubs like this, Natsu _did_ enjoy spending time with her, so it didn't matter to him. "If you say so." 

"Follow me." She intertwined their fingers, causing him to melt as he let her lead the way. Entering through the back didn't seem natural, especially when he could see several guards standing around. 

"Yoohoo!" Lucy waved one of them down, the guard nodding his head once before going to whisper something in another guards ear.

"What's that about?" Natsu watched as each guard moved on to whisper in another's ear.

"Ah, I'm kinda like… the boss here?"

"What?" At this rate, he wasn't sure what connections she _didn't_ have.

Lucy blushed, rubbing at her arm shyly. "It's complicated. This was the first strip club I ever went to, and I only did it because I heard the owner was horrible. I was initially just gonna rob him, but the dancers were telling me about the natsy things he's done to them, so…" She had to stifle a giggle. " I shot him in his ass. It was a huge spectacle, all of the workers started praising me, you'd think he'd had them here against their will. He survived, but I heard he left the country, that coward. So likewise, I was appointed as the new boss around here, but I signed that authority down to someone else. They still treat me like I own the place, though."

Natsu hadn't thought that there was anything that could make him fall for this girl any more than he already had. Something about her chaotic-good nature was just so attractive. "You're crazy."

"Yeah, you already knew that, though~" 

She guided him past the crowded area and towards a booth close to the wall that was relatively secluded. "I don't really like being close to so many strangers." Lucy explained. 

"Ah, me neither." Looking up on the large stage in the center, it occurred to Natsu that he really wasn't interested in watching the dancers. "Wanna get something to drink?"

"Oh, I don't drink alcohol, but you go on ahead."

"You don't?" He could've sworn he'd seen her drink wine at her hotel's restaurant, but now he was second guessing himself. "How come?"

"I'm a lightweight." She shrugged. "And I'm only 20, so it's not even legal."

Natsu stared at her blankly, the realization that she was being serious making him nearly topple over from laughter. " _What_!? Because it's illegal? You care about _that_?"

"W-well, yes!" She sported an adorable pout, making his amusement all the more prominent. "The only times I do something illegal, I do it to get back at people who are doing something _more_ illegal. Besides, alcohol isn't even good for you, so it's not like I'm missing out."

"Well, I can't argue with that. It _is_ kinda funny that you're worried about how unhealthy drinking is when you _smoke_ , though." 

"T-that's… Whatever! Come with me!" She abruptly stood and started towards the stage. Natsu followed her, growing weary as they neared the backstage doors.

"Uh, I was just messing around, y'know? You're not gonna beat me up or anything-"

"Huh? No, calm down." Lucy retrieved a key from her pocket, quickly unlocking the door and leading him into a hall with doors all along the wall.

"Um… where are we going?" Natsu found this place being similar to where he first met her, marking his face with a soft blush.

"To my private room."

"Wait, what?" Now his face was red as he gaped at her. "You… you _dance_ here?"

"Um, yeah. I told you I did business here." Lucy tried not to look at his shocked expression, struggling to keep confident. This wasn't something she'd normally share, and she hoped it would be perceived as she wanted.

"Oh, wow…" Natsu mumbled to himself, suddenly hyper aware of every move she made. 

They entered a room at the end of the hall, a poll in the middle and the lights dimmed before Lucy clapped her hands to make them brighten up. She walked up to the couch that sat against the wall in the room and began rustling through a bag that was on top of it, taking out a few contents. Natsu watched in silence until he noticed she began undressing. 

"Woah, what're you doing?" His eyes were wide, feeling a little excited but not wanting to get his hopes up.

"I'm changing, duh." She gestured towards the clothes folded inside the bag before freezing. "...Actually, why don't you wait outside? You'll see when I'm done." 

"Aw~" Natsu pouted, wanting nothing more than to watch her get undressed, but he obliged. "Fine, but I'm still super confused." 

Her sultry smirk was the last thing he saw before she ushered him out and shut the door, leaving him alone in the hall. At least, he _was_ alone, but it only took about 5 seconds for several women to flood the hall, all squealing in excitement. 

"Oh my gosh! The boss really _is_ here today!" 

"Is that her boyfriend?"

"Whoever he is, he's hot as hell~"

Natsu stared blankly at the group, all clad in red bunny suits. One of them approached him, flipping her long white hair over her shoulder as she looked him up and down.

"What's your name?"

"Uh… Natsu." He suddenly felt nervous, despite how excited the ladies seemed, he felt anxious under all those stares.

"Hm… I'm Angel. What're you doing here with Bunny?" 

"Uh, I'm here on a date with her…"

"Ah, really?" Angel suddenly smirked, folding her arms beneath her chest to accentuate her cleavage. "In that case, what can we do for you?"

"Um…" Natsu couldn't understand why she'd be flirting with him when he _just_ told her he was on a date. "I'm just… waiting on her…"

"Well, you're in luck! Not many people get to see her in action." She reached her hand towards him, seemingly trying to cup his cheek, but she immediately flinched away when the door beside them flung open.

"Touch him and I'll shoot you."


	19. Possessive pt.2 (NSFW)

"Touch him and I'll shoot you."

Despite the threat, all of the women gathered around Lucy as she walked into the hall, squealing and gushing over her.

"Ladies, compose yourselves." Lucy demanded light heartedly, she was ultimately glad to be someone they all could admire.

"Hey~" Angel's voice was smooth as she draped her arm across Lucy's shoulders. "I was only being hospitable, no need to get violent."

"Well you can be hospitable while still keeping your hands to yourself, right?"

"Ah~ You're so silly~"

Lucy quickly got out of Angel's hold, retrieving Natsu's hands. " _Anyway_ , no one is touching Natsu tonight except _me_." She narrowed her eyes at each one of the girls. "Am I clear?"

They all nodded as they giggled and made sly remarks under their breaths. "Good, well…. Remember to have fun tonight, and you know what to do if anything happens." That was their cue to leave, Lucy quickly taking Natsu back into her private room and sighing as the door shut. 

"They seem… fun…" Natsu muttered, glad that they finally had privacy. 

"They're sweet girls, I used to hang out with them a lot. It's a shame what they went through before I intervened around here." She subtly signaled for Natsu to sit on the couch. "Angel is who I gave authority to, but she likes to mess with me, sorry if she made you uncomfortable." 

"'S fine." Natsu leaned back, his eyes raking over her body. "You look… really good." 

"Do I?" She smirked, turning around to give him a good look. "It's a little embarrassing, but everytime I'm scheduled to dance, the entire club is bunny themed." Her bunny suit was light pink and glittery, contrasting the other's red latex ones, along with her accessories being black as apposed to white. It was clear that she was meant to stand out tonight, and as far as Natsu was concerned, she _definitely_ is.

"It's cute…" 

"Well," Lucy giggled, "It's supposed to be _sexy_." 

"It is…" His eyes trailed up from her stilettos and fishnet stockings to her bow tie and the bunny ears on her head. He felt like the addition of her gloves made her a bit overdressed, but he's gotten used to it by now. "...I like it."

"Look." She ran her hands over her breasts. "There's a zipper in the front, so I could do _this~_ " Slowly, she unzipped her front until her chest sprung out, the tight top of the suit was clearly squishing them in place. "I don't normally expose this much skin, though, so it looks like you're getting an exclusive show~" 

Natsu watched her fondle herself for a second before reaching out to grab her by the hips and pull her towards him. He replaced her hands with his own, running them over her soft globs and pinching at her nipples. 

" _Ahn~_ Natsu~" Lucy ran her fingers through his hair, letting him have his fun before pulling him away. "Be patient, I've got a show to do~"

Natsu made a noise akin to a growl, not wanting to let her go but listening as he stopped touching her so she could zip her leotard back up. 

"You'll come and watch, yes?"

The way she nibbled her lip had him nodding and standing up without a second thought. "Like hell I'm missing this!"

* * *

Sitting in the booth that she'd brought him to earlier, Natsu leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his fire whiskey. All eyes were turned towards the stage, clearly the patrons all knew who was due to come on next. 

The upbeat music started, causing the club to fill with catcalls and whistles. Natsu wasn't sure about his feelings of seeing her put on a show for all these _other_ people, but he figured there was no use in being possessive. Although, he couldn't help but feel a little cocky about the way she'd clearly been a bit jealous with the attention he'd gotten from the other dancers. 

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the building changed, people seemed to be a mix between hollering out in excitement and being in a stunned silence. Natsu could only grin, watching as his blonde vixen strutted onto the stage and blew kisses at those who were _already_ throwing bills. 

Lucy shook her hips to the music as she gripped the pole in the center on the stage with one hand. She spun around once before dropping low, looking back to give the crowd a sultry smile. As she rose up, she stuck out her ass, flaunting it a bit before shaking it and grinding against the pole. There were several whistles and calls for her to take off her clothes, motivating her to give the audience a little treat.

Lucy began to unzip her front, turning around to reveal that her breasts were practically spilling out. Done with the teasing, she twirled around the poll and broke out into an upside-down split. As she dismounted, she swiftly removed one of her wrist cuffs and threw it out onto the crowd that started getting bigger and bigger along the edge of the stage. 

She teased them, crawling towards the edge and taking a few tips, sticking up and shaking her ass in the process. As she moved to sit on her knees, she caressed her body up and down before removing the second wrist cuff and throwing it, laughing under her breath as several people made attempts to catch it. 

Returning to the pole, Lucy did a front split before wrapping one leg around it and twirling into an upside-down leg hang. Her boobs fought against gravity as she grabbed the pole with one hand and hung off the side, slowly letting her body slide closer to the ground. Knowing her set was nearing its end, her eyes flitted across the crowd before locking onto Natsu's, making her sultry smile deepen.

For her ending, she unzipped the entirety of her suit, freeing her breast but turning her back to the crowd before they could get a good look. There were calls asking for her to turn around, but Lucy simply strutted off the stage and into the secluded hall.

She had to take a moment to catch her breath, never had she ever been this exhilarated during a set. She'd never stripped for the sake of stripping, half the time she'd let the other girls take her tips, but tonight was different. There was someone watching her tonight that she wanted to impress, and speaking of which…

"Hey~" She skipped over to Natsu as he entered the hall, trying to interpret the expression on his face. "How was I?"

"Hot." Natsu kept a poker face even as he noticed her chest was still exposed. "You must have a lot of experience, huh?"

"Kinda, it's been _so_ long since I did that, and honestly I've never even really needed to try. Everyone just goes crazy regardless since they see me as the boss." 

"I noticed…" He ran his hands down her back to grip her ass, silently suggesting she'd wrap her legs around him. Lucy was able to catch on, recognizing how much he likes to carry her. "You're so fucking sexy." 

"Mhm… I thought of you while I was up there, y'know~"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah~" They started a heated kiss, Lucy caressing the hair on the nape of his neck and Natsu fondling her plump bottom. 

"Mm… We should get out of the hall…" 

"O-oh…" Natsu carried her to her private room, thankful that the key was still in the lock so they were able to get in quickly. He immediately pressed her against the door, kissing and nipping at her neck.

"Natsu~" Lucy panted, tugging on his hair harshly. "Let me suck you~" 

"Fucking hell…" Natsu slackened his hold on her to let her drop down to her knees, and his breath caught in his throat when she swiftly undid his pants and freed his member. 

"Mmm… I've been dying to have this dick in my mouth _all_ day~" Lucy licked him up and down as she stroked him with her hand. "I love the way you look when I suck you off." 

"You're so fucking dirty…" Natsu removed the bunny ears from her head so he could run his hand through her hair. "Gettin' on your knees for me… _fuck_ …"

He tugged on her hair as she began bobbing her head, taking in as much as she could handle. Over the weeks they've been seeing each other, Lucy was a natural when it came to figuring out Natsu's kinks, she always wanted him to feel as good as possible. 

Both of her hands came around to grab his ass, kneading the firm muscle and pulling the sexiest noises from him.

"Look at you… droolin' on my cock…"

Lucy knew he was trying to get a rise out of her, and it was working. She'd told him once before that she had a kink for dirty talk, and Natsu had delivered. He's gotten better with time, and something about his confidence right now had her practically soaking through her panties. 

To relieve herself, Lucy rubbed one of her hands along her core, but she needed _more_. In her desperation, she slipped her leotard to the side and tore a hole through her stockings to give herself proper access. 

"Damn…" Natsu watched her rub herself, his pride tripling from the thought that she was getting so turned on from just giving him a blow job. "Get up." 

Lucy released him with a quiet pop, knowing she'd like where this is going. She stood and smirked at him, but before she could speak, he turned her around and pressed her against the wall.

"N-Natsu?" She whimpered, but it quickly turned into a moan when he smacked her ass harshly. 

"You're so wet…" Natsu's voice was deep and husky, this tone not being one he'd used before. "Does having a dick down your throat make you horny?"

"Y-yes!"

He smacked her again, chucking darkly as he ripped her stockings more. "Fucking slut."

Lucy's eyes widened, having not expected to hear him say that. She didn't have time to debate if she liked it or not before he entered her roughly, providing that delicious friction that made her forget all coherent thoughts. "Oh shit!"

Natsu gripped her hips as he started thrusting into her, pushing her harder against the wall. "I love this pussy…" He spanked her again, groaning when it caused her to clench around him. "Yeah… keep squeezin' my cock like that…" 

"H-harder!" 

"You want it that bad?" 

"Yes! Fuck me hard!"

He obliged, using one hand to pull her hair as his thrusts became bruising. They'd never gone this rough before, but now both of them felt like they just couldn't get enough of the other. 

" _Ah~_ " Lucy squealed and shuddered as she climaxed. "Oh _fuck_ , N-Natsu!" 

The feeling of her cumming around him drove him further, and he pressed her head against the wall and held her hip with a harsh grip, not relenting his pace and fucking her through her orgasm.

Lucy sobbed, the over stimulation making her legs weak. "Y-yes..!" She came again, her praises becoming eligible as she rode out her high. 

Natsu finally relented, his sense coming back to him as he delivered a few more thrusts before finishing inside her. The two had to catch their bearings before he pulled out and fixed his clothes, and he had to hold onto her waist to keep her from falling, her legs were too shaky and worn out. 

"Wow…" Lucy mumbled, letting him hold onto her for a minute before she recovered. "...Where did that dominance come from?"

"Well… you had me riled up all night…" Natsu scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I'm sorry…"

"Huh?" Lucy laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "Don't apologize! That was easily the best sex I've ever had." 

"O-oh…" He couldn't help but get flustered, but her words did wonders for his pride. "Oh, and, um… sorry about calling you a slut. Not sure what came over me."

"It's fine~" Lucy still couldn't decide if she was okay with it, her experience with being called that hasn't been great, but the way Natsu said it didn't make her feel bad at all. 

She went over to the couch to retrieve her bag, taking out some clothes so she could change. "Dammit…" She groaned when she looked at her hands, her gloves had torn at the fingers and exposed a small portion of her skin. "I'm gonna change my gloves, so look away, please." 

Despite his curiosity, Natsu knew to respect her privacy, so he turned around and busied himself with his phone. "Oh shit…" He gasped as he noticed the time. "I gotta pick up my sister!"

"Your sister? Pick her up from where?"

"She stayed with a friend tonight, I'm supposed to pick her up and take her to my place… I should call and tell them I'm gonna be late…"

"I could give you a ride…" 

Natsu thought over her offer, wanting to say yes but knowing he needed to consider the risks. They would be going to Erza's house, and if Erza notices, he's as good as dead. 

As if she could read his mind, Lucy added, "I'll leave as soon as I drop you off, so your friend wouldn't see me."

He couldn't deny that he wanted to spend just a bit more time with her before he had to go, so he gave in. "...Alright, thanks." 

"Mhm, let's go." She walked up from behind him, wearing a fresh set of clothes and grabbing onto his hand as they left.

Lucy led the way out of the club and to her car, the two of them falling into a comfortable silence as she followed the GPS to Erza's house. 

Natsu watched her, getting the feeling that she wanted to say something. Testing his theory, he gripped her thigh like before and spoke up. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking…"

"'Bout what?"

"...Is your sister adopted, too?"

That was an odd question, but Natsu figured he should be used to it by now. "Yeah, me and her were in the system together, we went to the same foster homes, and our mom didn't want to separate us."

"She's 14, right?" 

He should've figured she already knew of his sister, she probably knew of his _entire_ family by now, too. "Yeah."

"...And your brother is 27?" 

"Um, yeah… What's all this about?"

Lucy flashed him an apologetic smile as she realized she was acting strange. "My bad, it just crossed my mind. You said he's been in prison for about a decade?"

"Yep." Natsu really didn't want to talk about something like this, but he was curious as to where this conversation would be going. 

"And he was framed?" 

"Yeah. He said he was meeting up with a possible partner, and the guy betrayed him and framed him for armed robbery and assault. Zeref was just a plant for them while they did their dirty work, and then they fled the scene and left him when the cops showed up. Really sucks."

"Uh huh… And you think it was Tartaros…" 

She seemed deep in thought, and Natsu wasn't sure if this was a good sign or not. "Why?"

She didn't respond for a minute, focusing on the road before she turned to him once they reached a red light. "I really don't like when bad people get away with bad things at the expense of the innocent." 

She said nothing more, leaving Natsu to wonder what her intentions were. She wouldn't try and interfere with Zeref's situation, would she?

"I wish I could meet your sister."

"Ah," He disregarded his previous thought, smiling fondly at her. "Maybe someday. She would love to meet you. Honestly, I think you two have a lot in common." 

"Mhm… Maybe someday…" 

The car grew silent again as it neared the destination. Neither of them wanted to leave, such is the way their meetings always end nowadays. 

Natsu let out a long sigh as Erza's house came into view. "Alright, thanks for the ride-"

"Hang on…"

"Hm?"

Lucy reached into her purse and hesitated for a moment before finding her resolve. "I want you to have these." She pulled out a key and a keycard. "This is for the hotel. I want you to come by whenever you want to see me, and if I'm not there, you can help yourself to the restaurant or my suite." 

Natsu stared at her in awe before taking the items from her. "Seriously?" The gesture made him blush, feeling like this was a huge milestone for them. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, now don't keep Wendy waiting." She gave him a peck on the lips. "See you later."

"See ya…" Natsu decided to get out quickly, knowing from experience that it was harder whenever they dragged their goodbyes out. A part of him hoped it was hard for her, too, but he knew to accept that it was unlikely. 

He wasn't at the door for longer than a second before it opened, Wendy was already packed and ready to go. "There you are!" 

"Hey, sorry, I lost track of time."

"It's okay, I had fun with Erza, and then with Jellal when he came home. They both practically passed out right before 10, though."

"Really? Well, those two _do_ work a lot. How was the job?" 

"Easy."

"...You gonna elaborate on that?" 

"Oh, the guy that was mistreating the animals was right in the entrance when we got there, and it only took Erza to ask a couple questions before he cracked. Since we finished so early, we decided to volunteer for a few hours." 

"Hm, well I'm glad it went well. Next time, I'll be the one to take you on a job. Then you'll get to try out that blackbelt you got!"

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be a long time before I'm allowed to do jobs like that, though…"

The two walked through the dark sidewalk with practice ease, being used to walking home even at night. They normally didn't talk much, preferring to listen to their surroundings. The walk from Erza's to Natsu's house was about 20 minutes, and once they were about 5 minutes away, Wendy broke the silence.

"Was that your girlfriend?"

"What?" Natsu stopped walking for a second. "What do you mean?"

"In the Lamborghini. That was your girlfriend, right?"

"Oh…" _She saw her…_ "Um… I guess you can say that." 

"Oh~ So you're dating a rich girl!"

"Uh… Yeah, she's pretty rich." 

"Aw, her standards must be… generous…" 

Natsu nudged Wendy's side for her passive aggressive comment. "Yeah, yeah. She's real… nice…"

"I can't wait to tell mom about-"

"No!"

Wendy gaped at him, not expecting the outburst. "Um?"

"I mean, look, everyone is already on my case about this… and I'm not ready to talk about her yet, okay? You _know_ how mom is, she won't let me see the end of it."

"I get it. I'll keep my mouth shut." 

Natsu was thankful for her easy compliance. He wasn't sure if Wendy had gotten a good look at her, hopefully she wouldn't be able to recognize anything if the talk of Bunny starts up again at the gang. Wendy may be very understanding, but she does have a habit of being nosy when it came to certain things. He trusted her, though, because he knew she wouldn't put him in a sticky situation. 

Not on purpose, at least.


	20. Trauma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tone of this chapter is like the opposite of chapter 19

Lucy tossed a water bottle to Natsu as he was sprawled out and panting atop the bed. 

She'd really worn him out today, and she decided to give him a break before asking for another round. "You alright?"

"Mhm… come here." Natsu set the bottle on the nightstand so he could wrap his arms around her as she sat next to him, taking her down so she laid on top of his chest. 

"What're you doing?" Lucy giggled, knowing good and well how much he liked to cuddle after sex. After 5 weeks of being intimate, there were certain things that became obvious for her. He's just so whipped, she couldn't help but be anything but confident around him. "You're so clingy…"

Natsu sighed in content when she shifted to snuggle him properly. "Me? _You're_ the one with an infinite libido." 

"Ah, I just can't help it~" 

"Yeah, I realized that..." He ran his hands over her sides, thinking over the questions he could ask for his end of the deal. He wasn't sure if this would be crossing any lines, but he wanted to find out."...There's something I wanna ask you."

"Yes?"

"...Who is Layla?" 

Lucy slowly lifted her head to stare at him, her expression serious. "...W-Where have you heard that name?"

"Well, while I was looking for yours, actually. Apparently you're not the only French woman whose name starts with 'L' and has the last name 'Heartfilia'." 

"...Never repeat that name."

He looked away awkwardly. "Uh, my bad… I didn't realize you wouldn't want me to mention it."

"It's not that," Lucy sighed, "It's just… if the wrong person hears you mention her… things could turn out badly."

"...You gonna tell me who she is..?"

Lucy got out of his hold and stood up to walk towards the desk in the corner of the room. "She's my mother." 

Natsu watched as she seemed to be looking for something at the desk, his eyes widening in shock. "Your… your mother?" 

Lucy pulled out a thick spiraled book and filtered through the pages before pulling out a photo. "Yep." She gave the photo to Natsu, watching as he was still trying to process things.

"I…"

"This is her." 

In the photo, there was a woman who looked exactly like her. It seemed to be taken at some kind of red-carpet event, and it looked like Layla was quite young there as well.

"She was a very well-known model and designer."

"...I didn't see any information like that when I found her… and it didn't seem like she had any children…"

"Good. My family went through a lot to keep that information hidden. How'd you find out about her at all?" 

Natsu suddenly felt guilty, it seemed like his discovery really pissed her off. "I saw her medical information. She's been documented at the hospital my mom works at."

"Oh…" Lucy stared at the photo intensely. "...The hospital…"

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be." Her eyes shifted to him. "You've just been trying to learn my name."

Natsu frowned at the faraway look in her eyes. "I didn't mean to bring up something that's a sensitive subject for you, though…"

Lucy thought for a moment, staring at him in silence before going to return Layla's picture to her book. "Do you know why my mother has been in the hospital?"

Natsu was a little confused. It seemed clear that she didn't want to talk about this, yet she's asking something like that… "Um… I think it said something about her being a cancer patient… Look, you don't have to tell me about her if you don't want-"

"That's not the only reason she's had to be in the hospital."

"Um…"

Lucy turned to look at him, but her eyes were unfocused. "She was shot."

"O-oh…"

"She was shot... in front of me…" She began to shake as she looked down at her hands. "It happened so fast… I was only 17, I didn't know what to do… I remember holding her, trying to stop the blood…"

Natsu got off the bed, staring at her in shock. He wasn't sure why she was suddenly telling him this stuff. "Hey, you can stop-"

"I know who shot her… I _know_ … but I can't tell anyone, because then they'll do it again…" Lucy brought a hand up to her face, covering her mouth as she began to breathe heavily. "I was so useless then… but now… I could get revenge-" 

"Hey!" Natsu was now holding onto her shoulders, trying to shake her out of her thoughts. "Stop talking about it!" 

Lucy calmed down her breathing as she slowly glared at him. "D-Don't yell at me."

"I… I'm sorry, but you totally spaced out! I don't want you to say anything if it's gonna make you react like that." 

"...The point was to tell you _why_ my family has kept all of our information hidden. When she was shot, my family believed it was supposed to be an assassination… It's also part of the reason why I faked my death…" Her gaze softened as she remembered those events from 3 years ago. "It was my father's idea… The only ones who are supposed to know I'm alive are my immediate family."

Natsu stared at her, making sure she was done with this subject before he let go of her shoulders. "...Okay, are you alright?"

"No." Lucy gave him a wide smile, contrasting her words. "I haven't been alright for years."

Natsu wasn't sure what to say to that. As someone who also hasn't been 'alright' in a long time, he knew there wasn't really anything that could be said to change it. 

She took his silence as a good enough response, laughing dryly and she walked away to go through a dresser drawer. "You look like this is the first time you realized that I'm bat-shit crazy." 

As he walked up behind her, Natsu rubbed circles into her back in an attempt to bring her som comfort. "You're not crazy, you've just been through some traumatic experiences. I can be here for you, but you might wanna seek professional help…"

Lucy laughed as she pulled out a few articles of clothes. "Yeah, but no professional could ever understand." She brushed off his worry as she went to lay the clothes on the bed. "Anyway, why don't we get out of this room? Now that it's autumn, the weather isn't gonna be warm for long… I was thinking maybe we could hit the hotel's pool while we have the chance."

Natsu decided to accept her deflection, understanding why she wouldn't want to go into any more detail about her personal problems. "The pool? Uh, sure, I'll need a swimsuit, though…"

"Of course, I'll ask Virgo to get you one. I'm gonna shower and change, and then you can meet me on the roof."

"The _roof_?" Suddenly, Natsu's entire demeanor changed. His eyes were wide and his jaw was slack, making it seem like he just witnessed death.

"Yeah, the pool is on the roof." Lucy could easily recognize his discomfort, but she wasn't sure what exactly caused it. "The one I use is a private pool, so there wouldn't be any strangers around…"

Natsu nodded slowly, though he knew he should try and be honest. "I, um… I'm scared of heights…"

"Oh…" She looked down in thought. "Are you scared of being high up, or of seeing the ground from a high perspective? You can't see past the roof from the pool, and it's nowhere near the edge. Is that fine, or would it still bother you?"

He knew it wasn't fine, but he really didn't want to disappoint her. Not only that, but he _really_ wanted to swim with her, too. "I can handle that." 

"Okay, just give me a few minutes." She didn't use the main bathroom, going into the suite's second bathroom and leaving him by himself. 

Natsu decided to start a shower as well, and he knew he needed to try and mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do.

-

Lucy waited patiently with her feet in the water. Natsu was taking longer than he should, but she figured she should cut him some slack. He'd been clear about not liking heights and she _had_ dropped a bit of a bombshell on him, so it would be safe to assume he'd be taking his time coming up here. 

Once she heard someone open the door to the roof, Lucy got up and walked towards the it to meet him halfway.

Natsu kept his hand on the railing of the stairs, not ready to walk the last few feet to be on the roof. This one was similar to the last one he'd been on- there, you would have to walk through a door and then a few steps before being on the roof, too. Only, this building was much higher, and from what he could see, it didn't have protective railings along the ledges. 

"You okay?" He watched as she approached him. "What's wrong?" 

Natsu let go of the door, wanting to look at least a _little_ less pathetic. "I just… need a second…"

It was now clear to Lucy that this was much more than just a simple fear of heights. "You can tell me what's wrong, Natsu. Is it because you can't swim or something?"

"No, I'm fine." He took a step towards her, but he couldn't shake the sick feeling in his gut. By the time he was on the final step towards the roof, he felt himself begin to tremble as his eyes locked on the sky beyond them.

"Alright, don't take another step." Lucy put a hand in his chest, stopping him from going any further. "There's clearly something wrong."

"H-huh?" Natsu wiped his forehead when he realized he'd been sweating. "But… I wanna swim with you."

"You obviously don't." 

He wanted to object, but a part of him was relieved she'd stopped him. "I _do_ wanna swim… but… this roof is just _so_ high up..."

"You're really _this_ afraid of heights?" She'd never seen a case this bad, but she figured she shouldn't assume it was impossible. "Alright, let's go back inside."

"I can do it." Natsu stepped around her to walk further, but he couldn't stop looking ahead. His curiosity urged him to walk to the ledge, just so he could see the view, and that's what scared him the most. "Okay, I _can't_ do this."

"Come on." Lucy grabbed his hand and led him down the short flight of steps and back into the building. "Have you ever been on a rooftop before?"

Natsu looked sick as he stared at her, causing her to worry more. "Hey… Do you wanna talk about it?" 

"I…" He figured an explanation would make him look less like some scaredy-cat. "I haven't been on a rooftop since I attempted suicide." 

Lucy froze, her jaw slackening as she tried to process this information. "Oh…"

"It didn't seem like a big deal, but I kept away from heights because… everyone was worried about me… but I have the urge to look down from the roof, and I don't know how much self control I have, so… I just don't trust myself right now." 

"I…" The way he said it so causally really through her for a loop. "I'm sorry…" She didn't quite know what to say. "I shouldn't have brought you up there."

Natsu shrugged in response. "No worries, it's not like you could read my mind. This'll be good to bring up at my next therapy appointment, I didn't realize heights still affected me like this." He frowned as he remembered why they were going on the roof in the first place. "I really wanted to go to the pool, though… so I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry, there's one indoors, too."

"Oh!"

"Yeah," She winked at him, "You didn't think a hotel like this wouldn't have an indoor pool, did you?" 

"Guess I never thought about it." 

The two were all smiles as Lucy led the way to the pool area. It was an odd feeling, knowing knowing Natsu had dealt with his own share of mental anguish. She hoped she could be there for him like he is for her, though she wasn't sure if she should tell him that. After a month of seeing each other regularly, Lucy felt like the times they share together are better than any therapy could hope to be. It was just so refreshing- the conversation, the laughter, the sex- she'd never felt so _good_ before. 

She felt like she needed to return the favor, like she needed to be able to make _him_ feel good, too. It wasn't like she was in any position to be providing emotional support, though.


	21. Lucienne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains bi-phobia

"Are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"What did I just say, then?"

"...Uhhhhhh…"

Cana flicked Natsu on the nose. "Pay attention!"

"Fine…" He whined childishly as he put his phone on his desk. "What were you saying?"

"Hmph… I _said_ I wanna take Wendy on a job with me. It's just some guy embezzling money from a church, should be easy enough."

"Oh, yeah, I think she could handle that."

"Mhm, now, who were you texting that's got you all distracted?" Cana smirked as she subtly leaned towards his phone. "Is it that girl you've been seeing?"

"...None of your business." He knew his blush gave him away, but he wouldn't weaken his resolve. 

"Ohoho!" Cana reached for his phone, only for him to quickly snatch it away. "Hey, I just wanna see~"

"No!" He stood up, using his height to raise his phone out of her reach. "Knock it off, Cana!"

"C'mon, I just wanna see what you have her name saved as in your contacts!"

"No-" He felt the phone vibrate, and the way he held it caused him to accidentally open the notification. As he lowered the phone to look at the message, he hadn't even processed that he was looking at a photo until he heard Cana's loud gasp.

"Is that a _titty-pic_!?" Cana had already gotten a good look, so Natsu's attempt to hide his phone was futile. "Her boobs are _huge_! Are they real?"

"Um, _yes_! Now stop being nosy!" 

"Damn, Natsu! I wanna see the rest of her!" 

"Why are you like this..?" He groaned, shoving her away as she began to nudge his side teasingly. 

"Me? _You're_ the one getting nudes while at work!"

"Hey, lower your voice! If someone hears-"

"Uh, excuse me?" Natsu and Cana turned to the door, watching as the worst possible person to catch them walked in. "Are you two… busy?"

"B-boss! We were just… um…" Natsu looked at Cana, pleading with his eyes for her to back him up.

"Ah," She'd gotten the hint, "Lover-boy here was just telling me about his girl~"

 _Goddammit, this drunk!_ "I can explain-"

"Don't worry about it." Mavis brushed it off. "I actually need to speak with you, Natsu."

He glanced over at Cana who only shrugged, neither of them knowing what she could want. "Okay…"

"Come to my office." 

The two walked in silence through the halls and to the boss' room, Natsu's anxiety growing more and more. He couldn't read her demeanor, and he wasn't sure if he was in trouble or not. 

"Have a seat." Mavis sighed as they entered her office. "There is something serious I need to talk to you about." 

"Is it bad?" Natsu righted himself in the seat across from her desk. "Should I be worried?"

"No, it's nothing bad." As Mavis sat at her desk, she stared at him in a blank silence for a minute. "...It's nothing bad at all." 

"Boss?" Her behavior was odd, especially when she started sniffling. "A-are you crying?"

"I-I…" Mavis sniffled more as she rubbed at her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"...Yes?"

"Zeref is-"

"Did something happen to him?" Now Natsu was at the edge of his seat. It wasn't rare for him to see Mavis crying about his brother, but she told him it wasn't anything bad…

"He's coming home…"

"...Huh?" Natsu's body relaxed, a small smile making its way across his face before he started thinking over what she said. "Wait… he's getting released..? But… how?"

"They found who framed him…" 

"Who?"

"Well, he turned himself in. It _was_ Tartaros. Their leader, to be exact."

"Wait a minute…" Natsu shook his head, trying trying collect his thoughts. "So, he just turned himself in? Why? He wouldn't have had a reason to…"

"I don't know… I think it might've been an outside interference. No one in Fairy Tail even knew about it, so…" Mavis just wanted to be happy about this, but she could understand why Natsu would have a lot of questions. 

"But wait, how was that enough to guarantee his release? Isn't it usually a very long and complicated process or something? And he's just coming straight home, and not to a rehabilitation center or nothing?"

"Honestly… this is what's convinced me that someone interfered, but I have no idea who could've had the power to get them to do this…" 

This was honestly unbelievable. There was no way anyone in his family would've been able to make this happen, and Mavis already said no one in the gang had anything to do with it. _Who else even knows about Zeref's situation-_

"Oh. My. God…" Suddenly, it hit him. There was only one other person who not only knew about Zeref, but can very likely have the power and connections to pull this off. "No way…"

"What is it?"

Natsu smiled, his own eyes tearing up as he continued to think about how likely his theory is. "I think I know who did it." 

"You do? Who?" He didn't answer her immediately, causing Mavis to mentally go through anyone he could possibly know outside of their mutual friends and family. "Wait…" It donned on her as well, but she was more in denial about the idea. "No, you don't think…"

"Let me see…" Natsu pulled out his phone and sent out a text message; 

**"My brother is getting released."**

It only took a minute, the contact saved as "L.♡" responding; 

**"I know ;)"**

All Natsu could do was laugh, nodding his head to signal that he was right. Bunny really _had_ pulled some strings for them. 

"But… why? What would drive her to do something like this?" Mavis was in utter disbelief, and she didn't want to be pessimistic, but this was too good to be true. 

"I told you…" Natsu wiped his eyes. "She's… amazing." 

Now it became abundantly clear how serious this whole "Bunny" situation is. _I_ really _have to meet her…_

* * *

Natsu rushed up the stairs, his strides long and smile wide. He knew there was nothing that could soil his day, and after he was done with work, he just _had_ to come here. 

He needed to see her, to thank her. _I'm gonna give her the biggest hug-_

He unlocked and opened the room door, only for his smile to slowly fall when he looked around the main room. She wasn't here, and what was even more concerning was that there was a man standing by the couch. An older looking man, and he wasn't wearing any employee attire or anything…

"Who are you?"

The man turned around as Natsu entered the room, a confused look on his face. "...Who are _you_?"

His thick accent had Natsu wondering if this man was some sort of relative to Lucy, but he still couldn't understand what he'd be doing here. "...What are you here for?"

"...What are _you_ here for, young man?" The man scowled. "This is a private room, only my daughter should have access here. How did you get a key?"

"...Wait, did you say your _daughter-_ " The door opened again, causing their attention to turn to the blonde now entering the room.

Lucy shut the door and passed both men as she went to set her purse on the coffee table and leave Plue on the couch. It wasn't until she glanced up did she realize that there were _two_ men in her room, and that neither of them were ever supposed to see the other. 

"...Oh no."

"What is going on here?" 

She turned to her father, panicking as she saw how angry he looked. "Um…"

"Is this your dad?" 

She then turned to Natsu, feeling overly vulnerable in this situation. "Well…"

" _Qui est cet homme, Lucienne_?"

"Gah!" Lucy quickly covered Jude's mouth, but the damage was already done. Natsu's eyes were wide and his mouth was agape, the way it slowly morphed into a smirk proved that he'd caught on.

Jude removed her hand from his mouth, his anger rising tenfold. " _Qui est cet homme_!?"

"... _Ça ne te concerne pas_!" Now Lucy was getting defensive and frustrated with the situation she just found herself in.

 _"Est-ce que tu trompes ton mari_?"

His words offended her, now she was sporting her own scowl. " _Bien sûr que non_!" 

Jude crossed his arms and looked Natsu up and down before turning back to his daughter. " _Alors explique moi pourquoi cet homme est ici_."

Lucy's anger matched his as she got closer to his space. " _Je t’ai dis que ça ne te regardais pas!_ "

"Uh… can someone tell me what's going on?" Natsu's comment had both of them turning their scowls to him, and he panicked as he watched her stomp over. 

"Out!" Lucy pointed to the door, her tone causing him to oblige without objection. "Now…" She turned back to her father. "This isn't what you came here to talk about, so just drop it!"

"You wanted me to come here so you complain about your husband, but look at you! Cheating on him!"

"First of all, you are in _no_ position to shame _me_ for 'cheating' on my spouse!" She knew she struck a nerve, but she didn't really care. "And second, we have an open marriage, so he already knows that I see other people!"

"Maybe _that's_ why you're having marriage issues. Who in their right mind is okay with their partner sleeping around!?"

"Um, _me_! _I'm_ okay with that. And many relationships are able to remain healthy whilst being open, but _I_ wanted to do this because the thought of even sharing a room with him makes me sick."

"Well, at least I didn't catch you with a _woman_ this time…"

"Are you kidding me!?" Lucy decided to stop herself from going off, knowing she needed him on her side for this. "That's besides the point, what I called you here for is _very_ important to me, okay?"

She pulled out the puppy-eyes, causing Jude to sigh. "Alright, what is troubling you, my dear?"

"...I want a divorce as soon as possible."

"...And why is that?"

"Being married to that jerk is driving me crazy! He's so controlling, and he lacks empathy. The two of us hardly interact, anyway!"

"But his company is detrimental to ours, sweetheart. If you get divorced, it'll cost a lot in the long run!"

"So? Do you really want me to spend my life being miserable so you can make more money? You're a millionaire, how much money do you need!?".

"I think you're just exaggerating about this because you want to make things harder for me. I mean, if you get divorced, how will you have an heir?"

Lucy facepalmed, taking deep breaths so she kept her composure. "I'm only _20_ , there's plenty of time for me to have a kid. And I promise you I will _never_ have a child with him, _never_. He is not fit to be a father."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because he's horrible! He's… m-mean…"

"Mean?"

"Y-yes!"

Jude sighed in exasperation. "C'mon, Lucienne, now you're just being childish."

"What!? Ugh, of course you wouldn't understand… It feels like he hates me… I don't want to be married to someone just for money, and it's like he doesn't even care…"

"This'll work out, business marriages are common, y'know. _Maybe_ if you stopped being so promiscuous-"

"Would you quit with that?" Lucy stomped her foot. "That's not the reason for _any_ of our problems! Besides, why do you keep belittling _me_ for it? _He_ does it too!"

"Because _you're_ my daughter, and a wife should be doting to her husband, not making eyes at anyone else. Especially not _women_ , I'm sure you doing that lowered his self-esteem." 

At this point, she was sure this was a lost cause, at it's always been. "So it's okay for me to be miserable because I'm a woman? He can be as careless as he wants, and I have to just accept it?" She began to sniffle, pulling her secret weapon. "You don't care that I'm unhappy, Papa?"

"I… That's not what I'm trying to say…" He almost went to console her, but he remembered she didn't like to be touched. "…I just think you're saying this all too soon, maybe you should just give it more time…"

"The past 3 years have been hell, Papa."

"How could it have been _that_ bad? Didn't you say you two hardly interact? Sure the marriage may not be ideal, but could it really be _that_ bad if you two just aren't talking together?"

"It's not just that… He... He scares me…"

"What?"

"He scares me, Papa. He's… violent… I think he has anger issues." Lucy knew she was treading on thin ice right now, one slip up could be dangerous, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold herself back.

"What do you mean?" This time, Jude grabbed her shoulder so she could look at him. "Does he… does he hit you?"

When she didn't answer, his eyes widened. "Has he been putting his hands on you!?"

"I…" She dropped her head in defeat. "No… He hasn't." Hearing her father sigh in relief only made her heart ache. "But I've seen him do things when he's angry… like breaking stuff… and he's taken his anger out on Plue before…"

"On your dog? Why would he do that?" 

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know, but it scares me." 

"...I'll see what I can do." Jude walked towards the door. "How about you give things another year? If things don't get better, then I'll see about letting you have a divorce." 

Lucy waved goodbye. "I guess I don't have a choice." 

Once her father left, Lucy flopped down on the couch and groaned. For the past 3 years, it felt like there wasn't a future in sight for her. There was no one she could cry to, no one would listen, and it wasn't like Ignia would let her tell the whole truth and get away with it. She wouldn't let what happened to her mother happen again, even if it meant keeping her mouth shut. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally, Lucy and Jude's conversation would've been entirely in French, but I kept majority of it English so it'd be easier.
> 
> *Qui est cet homme- Who is that man
> 
> *Ça ne te concerne pas- It doesn't concern you
> 
> *Est-ce que tu trompes ton mari- Are you cheating on your husband 
> 
> *Bien sûr que non- Of course not
> 
> *Alors explique moi pourquoi cet homme est ici- So explain to me why this man is here
> 
> *Je t’ai dis que ça ne te regardais pas- I told you it was none of your business


	22. Thank You (NSFW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may seem oddly paced because it was originally a part of the last chapter, but I cut it in half.

Lucy let her head fall against the couch, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She knew there wouldn't be anything her father could do that would change anything, unless he'd let her get a divorce, of course. 

A year might as well be an eternity, who's to say she'll even be alive for that much longer?

" _Je suis fatigué…_ " She jolted up when she remembered her stress reliever was here, rushing towards the door and looking around once she opened it.

"Natsu?"

"Oh, hey." He walked up to her from the stairwell. "I went and got a sandwich at the café, did you know they have meatball subs here?"

Lucy smiled and grabbed onto his hand as he entered the room. "Obviously, you dork."

Natsu grinned down at her as he pulled her towards him. "So, you gonna tell me what all this was about, _Lucienne_?"

"Ugh…" She groaned as she hid her face in his chest. "I go by Lucy."

"Lucy?"

"Yes, just Lucy…" 

"That's a cute name, it suits you."

Lucy smiled again, lifting her head to look him in the eyes. "Of course you'd say that…" She didn't elaborate, simply pulling him into a kiss before she continued. "I'm really sorry about all this. That was my father, he came by to talk about business. Our conversations tend to get... messy."

"Mhm…" Natsu ran his hand through her hair. "I was _so_ confused when I walked in and saw him. 

"Heh, yeah… maybe I should've warned you that he'd be here tonight." 

"Eh, I actually came by to talk to you about my brother…"

"Ah, yes." Lucy backed away from him to begin undressing. "Sorry it took so long, I was a little busy."

"...How'd you do it?" Natsu followed her in taking off his clothes, knowing what she wanted. "And why?"

"Well, I told you I don't like when bad people get away with stuff. And it wasn't that hard, I went up to Tartaros and threatened them to do the right thing, they didn't put up much of a fight since they're already afraid of me…" 

The two walked into the main bedroom and laid together on the bed, facing each other. "...And then I went and got them to let Zeref go, I've got 'connections,' so that part wasn't hard at all, either." 

Natsu ran his hand down her side as he slowly kissed her, trailing his lips down her neck. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." 

He continued to kiss her, mounting her and looking down at her with adoration. "Seriously, that was… very kind of you."

"Mhm, how instead of telling me, you _show_ me your gratitude?" 

Natsu really wanted to have a heart to heart with her, but he knew that wasn't what he was here for. He was to give her end of the deal, and it was wise to accept that this is what their relationship is.

"I will, Lucy."

She ran her hands through his hair and over his back as he started grinding against her. "You wanna be on top tonight?" She breathed out, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

"Is this okay?" Natsu knew she got a kick out of dominating him, but he really wanted to appreciate her right now. 

"Of course." 

Natsu sat up to rub along her thighs, trying to decide if he wanted to taste her first or just get on with it. When he locked eyes with her, he felt himself suppressing a growl at the way she looked at him. 

"Lucy… what a pretty name…" He mumbled as he caressed her cheek. "Everything about you is so pretty."

Lucy's face was bright red, his words making her heart flutter. She'd never seen him like this, he seemed to be feeling more than lust in this moment. "...Natsu…" She bit her lip as he brought his hands down to fondle her breasts. 

"I love these…" He leaned down to nibble one of her pert nipples, rolling the other between his fingers. 

"Mm… I sent you a picture earlier…"

"Yeah, I was at work…"

"Oh? My bad…" Lucy's giggles became moans as she felt him rub his tip along her folds. "H-hey… don't tease me…" 

Natsu looked up from her chest, his cheeks flushed and eyes uncharacteristically bright. "As you wish…" 

He slowly penetrated her, both of them sighing as he entered all the way to the hilt. He placed both his hands on either side of her head and looked down at her while he began slow strokes, taking in every noise she made.

"Natsu…" Lucy's voice was soft and airy as she ran her nails over his back. "...Mmm, j-just like that~" 

Natsu hadn't been sure if she'd like the slow treatment, but he was glad. Right now he wanted to savor her, to show her how he felt without words. "Lucy…" She sighed in response, absolutely loving the way he said her name.

He leaned down to capture her lips, and she eagerly met him halfway. 

The two were content, making out and slowly grinding against each other. Natsu nipped at her lip in time with the way she raked her nails against his back and scalp. 

"H-harder… I'm close..." Lucy panted and bucked her hips to meet his thrusts. "...Cum with me~"

Though he was sure he could hold out longer, Natsu decided to succumb to the pleasure to give her what she wanted. He sat up to grip her hips and pound into her harder, the way she whimpered and clenched around him signaling she was near the edge.

"C'mon, baby…" Natsu growled out, knowing she likes dirty talk. "...Cum on my cock like a good girl." 

Lucy threw her head back as she came, her orgasm being prolonged from the sensation of him filling her with his spunk. "Oh damn…" She breathed out as she took in his flushed face. " _God_ you're so hot…"

Natsu chuckled at her words as he pulled out and laid his head atop her chest. He sighed in content when he felt her begin to run her fingers through his hair, snuggling against her to get more comfortable.

Her nails had ripped through her gloves again, but she couldn't be bothered to care right now. Cuddling like this felt nice, and she'd rather lay here with Natsu than do anything else.

Natsu looked up at her, neither of them saying a word but both knowing they had the same idea. They'll lay together tonight, and by the time he wakes up, she'll be gone, likely off to "work." 

It was how their nights always went, and although he wished he could wake up beside her, Natsu understood why he couldn't. Learning her name was a step in the right direction, though, and a part of him had hope that things could change for the better for them soon.

* * *

"Plue…" Natsu grumbled, still half asleep. "Quit lickin' me…" The dog wagged his tail as he continued to lick his face excitedly. "Oi…"

" _Laissez-le dormir_ , Plue."

Natsu rolled over onto his stomach when Lucy's command worked, whatever she said must've been something Plue didn't know in English. He wanted to thank her, but he was too tired to open his mouth, opting for just opening one eye and watching her.

Lucy was sitting at the desk in the corner of the bedroom and writing away at a large journal. Plue had jumped into her lap, but he didn't seem to knock her out of her focus as she continued to write.

"Whatcha doin'?" Natsu mumbled, wondering if she could even hear him. 

"Writing."

"I mean… Whatcha writing?"

"Ah, nothing important." Lucy stood from the desk and walked up to him, Plue in her hold. "Goodmorning. I'm sorry about him, I don't know why he keeps doing that to you."

Natsu shrugged, but realized she probably couldn't tell from the way he was laying. "'S fine, I needed to get up anyway." He forced himself to sit up and look at the digital clock on the nightstand. "It's already 10…"

"Do you want me to make you some breakfast?" 

He noticed she seemed oddly excited about her offer. "Sure, if you wanna." Lucy nodded as she skipped out of the room, leaving Natsu collecting himself on the bed. 

His eyes skimmed across the room, locking onto the large journal she'd just been writing in. Curious, Natsu got up and walked over to it, trying to examine what was inside.

She hadn't made any move to conceal it, making him feel like he hit a jackpot. His victory was short lived, though, as he quickly realized all of the writing was in French. "Dammit…"

Not wanting to be caught snooping, he decided to head in the bathroom and start a shower. As always, she'd left him clothes on the counter. He was always fast in the bathroom, not wanting to waste any of the time they had together. 

Lucy hummed as she whipped together some quick bacon and eggs. She was glad that Natsu loves to eat, because she loves to cook, which is something she'd never really had the chance to do for a long time now. Unfortunately, Plue was always on edge whenever he saw her near a stove, the poor guy has been traumatized like her.

" _S'asseoir_." She commanded as she handed Plue a piece of bacon. "I'm gonna be okay." 

"Hey," Natsu walked into the kitchenette, half dressed. "Y'know, I didn't expect you to still be here this morning."

"Oh, I wanted to talk to you about something before I left." 

"Yeah?" Natsu stole a couple pieces of bacon from her pan. "What is it?" 

As she took one strip of the bacon away from him, Lucy began to reach for a plate. "...I would like you to keep my name a secret."

"...Oh?"

"Yeah, I just… would rather if people didn't know." 

"Okay, that's fine." Though it may be harder now that he knows such a juicy secret, the last thing Natsu wanted to do was disrespect her. He went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, but winced when the sound of broken glass suddenly hit his ears.

Lucy had dropped the plate she'd been reaching for, starting everyone in the room. She hadn't said anything, staring down at the broken glass in a stunned silence. 

Natsu wasn't sure why she hadn't moved, he wondered if she'd hurt herself, but immediately regretted walking closer to her in an attempt to find out.

Lucy flinched violently before backing away, her eyes blown wide and her voice shaky. "I-I'm sorry…"

"Hey, it's okay… You don't need to be sorry…" When he realized she was still shuddering, Natsu fought to contain his panic. "Hey, are you okay? Lucy?"

The sound of his voice brought her back to reality, Lucy taking deep breaths and wiping the sweat from her forehead. She immediately felt embarrassed, it was as if she'd been having a nightmarish daydream. The reason she never cooks is because she can be clumsy, and Ignia doesn't like when she's clumsy. Dropping the plate brought her back to memories she thought she had gotten control of. 

"Lucy? Talk to me…" 

Looking up at his worried expression, she fought the urge to cry. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me…" She knew she had to play it cool, figuring she'd acted odd enough for one morning. "Let me go get something to clean all this up."

She practically bolted out of the room, leaving Natsu completely confused. "What was that about?" He looked over at Plue, who seemed to be staring at the door Lucy left out of in alert. 

If he didn't know any better, Natsu would've thought her reaction was a sign of trauma. The way she froze up and seemed frightened was all too familiar, and the sound or action of dropping the dish could've easily been a trigger. He's no licensed professional, though, so he knew better than to assume something that serious only based off of his own experience. 

_..._ _I really wish she would at least consider seeing a professional, though. She definitely needs to._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Je suis fatigué- I'm tired   
> *Laissez-le dormir- Let him sleep   
> *S'asseoir- Sit down


	23. Gossip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a 4-way phone conversation, hopefully the dialog isn't too confusing.

"Happy!" Natsu called from the kitchen, "Lunch!"

When the cat didn't respond, Natsu rolled his eyes and added, "It's fish!" 

Happy jumped up from his bed in the living room and excitedly pranced towards his bowl, knowing the meaning of "fish" well enough now.

"I got ya the good stuff since my last job paid so well." Natsu grinned as he left the cat with his meal and headed towards the living room. "Hm… There's not much to do today…" He spoke to himself as his eyes skimmed around the room. "You know what that means!" 

Before he could locate his phone, Natsu sensed a presence outside. Moving to peak out his window, his suspicion was correct. 

He opened the door, allowing his petite visitor in before she even had to knock, though her arrival confused him. Why would his cousin's pregnant wife be coming around here unannounced?

"Hey… is something wrong, Levy?"

"Hmm… Nothing in particular. I just wanted to stop by." 

Natsu knew that wasn't the only reason she'd be here. The only way Levy would come to his house alone would either be because of work, or because there was something she wanted to get him to talk about. 

"So…" She strolled over to his living room and took a seat on the couch. "Gajeel tells me you've got a girlfriend now…"

 _Yep, that's what it is._ "I guess you could say that…" Natsu joined her on the couch, only now realizing she was holding some kind of book.

"Mhm… I also heard _another_ rumor about you…"

 _Oh boy…_ "Let me guess, you heard about my meeting with the infamous 'Bunny' that happened about, hm, 11 weeks ago?"

Levy stared at him in silence before nodding her head. "Yeah, I'm guessing you know where I'm going with this, then?"

"Yep…" Natsu wasn't sure if Levy is here to accuse him, or if she's here because she already knows what's been happening.

"Natsu, I'm not going to tell anyone about this, you have my word." 

She looked genuine, and he figured it'd only make things worse if he denied things at this point. "Fine, what do you wanna know?"

"How long have you been seeing each other?"

"...We met 11 weeks ago, but we didn't start regularly seeing each other until about 8 weeks ago…"

"Hm, and she's not really your girlfriend, right? You're just 'friends with benefits,' for lack of a better term..?"

Natsu narrowed his eyes, finding her question oddly accurate. He felt easy knowing that the others wouldn't expect him to be hooking up with someone, so he didn't think anyone would know the truth about his relationship with the girl he'd been seeing. "...What's this about, Levy?"

She opened up the large book in her arms, idly skimming through the pages. "...I just want you to know the truth about Lucy."

* * *

"Yeah, and then we started making out right in front of her! I think I'm getting somewhere with this, girls." Selene laughed maniacally into her phone. "I mean, I don't think he even cared that she was upset, because he was too distracted by _me_!"

**_"You're so good at this, Selene!"_ **

"Well duh, Hakune, try telling me something I _don't_ know."

**_"Oh, are you at his place now?"_ **

"Of course~"

**_"Is she there?"_ **

Selene smirked as a rose gold Lamborghini pulled up into the larger circle driveway of the estate. "Funny you ask, Youko, she _just_ pulled up."

**_"Oh, what's she wearing?"_ **

"Ew, whatever it is, it _definitely_ isn't designer."

 **"Does she have that weird dog with her?"**

"Ugh, obviously. She spends more time with that filthy animal than her own husband! Hang on… she's saying something in French- gross, she looks bloated, I bet she's been stress eating or something." Selene chuckled behind her hand. "What a pig!"

_**"Ew… What if she's pregnant?"** _

She froze at Mimi's suggestion, looking over Lucy one more time before biting her lip in thought. "Fuck, should I get pregnant too?"

**_"Hm… If she's pregnant then she probably won't be as attractive to Ignia. You should wait and see, he'll probably choose your body over hers."_ **

_**"Yeah, and she'd be super occupied with the kid, so you'll have him to yourself more often!"** _

_**"But wait… I thought he told you they're not really sexually active? When would she have gotten knocked up?"** _

"Hm… good point… I'm gonna go see what I can get out of her, I'll text you girls." Selene quickly pulled her car behind Lucy's once she hung up the phone. Before Lucy could open the front door, she approached her.

"Hey! How are you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes before turning around and giving her a blank stare. "Hello, Selene."

"You look _exhausted_ , been working a lot lately?"

"Yep." 

"Hm…" Selene leaned up against the door, stopping Lucy from walking away from the conversation. "Oh! I couldn't help but notice you're not wearing your wedding ring…"

"No, I'm not."

"...Can I ask why?"

"You can ask." Lucy's body language showed her disinterest, used to these annoying conversations Selene always tried to have.

"Are there problems in your marriage?"

"Obviously."

"Oh?" Selene's face brightened up. "What a shame… and here I thought you two would be having a baby soon…"

"What? Look, I'm tired, can I please go in my house?" Lucy was tempted to shove her out of the way, but didn't have to as Selene finally decided to move. "I don't know what you want, but I hope you know Ignia isn't gonna give it to you." 

Selene scowled at the back of Lucy's head as she entered the house, whipping out her phone to send a series of shady texts to her groupchat. 

**"She's** _**so** _ **arrogant!"**

**Y- "What did she say?"**

**"She thinks Ignia doesn't want me! Little does she know, he's been constantly telling me I satisfy him more than her!"**

**H- "I think she's just trying to lower your confidence…"**

**"You're right… We'll see who's laughing when** _**I'm** _ **the one living in a mansion!"**

Lucy dragged her feet through the house as she walked towards her least favorite room. Walking into Selene was always so aggravating, there was just no way to get into that chick's thick skull. She thinks she's intimidating, but Lucy honestly couldn't care less about her. She _does_ need a major reality check, though, and Lucy wouldn't wish all the pain Ignia puts her through on her worst enemy, so she's honestly just trying to look out for her.

Once she was in front of Ignia's room, she knocked on the door, though it was already ajar.

"Lucy?"

"I have your money."

Ignia answered the door to collect the cash in her hand, and as always, she couldn't leave until he counted and confirmed it was the right amount. He nodded once he was done, but he grabbed her shoulder before she walked away. "There's something I need to talk to you about. 

He looked angry, but he _always_ looks angry, so Lucy wasn't sure what to think. "Well, your side bitch is here, so it'll have to wait." 

Ignia immediately knew who she was talking about, so he decided to let her have peace for now. Sighing in relief, Lucy quickly made her way to her own room and locked the door.

"Everyday is the same…" She sighed as Plue scurried over to her closet. "No snacks for me today, Plue…"

She flopped down on her bed and groaned into her pillows, giving herself a few minutes to wallow in her self-pity. Once she was done, Lucy retrieved her laptop from her nightstand and set it up.

"What should I look into tonight, hm?...Natsu said his father went missing… Maybe I should ask him about that…" She began typing away, the fact that she'd already gone through Natsu's personal information making things easier. 

She'd already gone through his birth parents' information when she looked into Zeref a couple weeks ago, and now she needed to look for the man who was registered on their adoption papers; Igneel Dragion.

Surprisingly, Igneel didn't seem to be some unknown guy- Lucy was able to find lots of pictures of him. Something about him seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The more information she found, the more suspicious she got. 

This was a little _too_ easy, as if Igneel had already been in the public light before his disappearance. "Natsu said he was 11 when he lost his father… that'd make Igneel 34 at the time…" She fact checked all of her thoughts, seeing that Zeref had indeed been registered as Natsu's guardian for 11 months, and then Natsu was in foster care for 5 more months before he was adopted by a woman named Grandine at age 12.

"I don't see anything about Igneel being dead, though…" Lucy looked over at Plue in a deep thought. "How likely is it that he's been gone for a decade and is still alive?" Of course, the dog didn't respond, but Lucy's look became faraway as she continued to ponder.

 _The way Natsu acted made it seem like Igneel was a good father, so he wouldn't just up and leave his two sons, would he?_ She figured there was only one way to find out as she continued to look through Igneel's personal records; his mail, credit card transactions, legal documents…

Oddly enough, she hadn't seen anything from him past the age 34, but there was a chance he'd changed his name or even Social Security number. Before she could look into that theory, something caught her eye.

There was an article about Igneel, proving her suspicion that he was well-known before his disappearance. The article was about upcoming entrepreneurs, and about how he'd been establishing a business at the time. He seemed to be a college graduate here, and there was a company passed down to him from a family member. Lucy had to do a double take when she read his company's name.

It was a tobacco factory that he turned into a cigar manufacturer, going by the name "Dragon King's." That was the _exact_ same name as _Ignia's_ company, which also happened to be a cigar manufacturer… 

"Wait a second…" Lucy gasped, turning to Plue again as he looked at her curiously. "Ignia's last name is _Dragion_ , isn't it..?" She couldn't believe it didn't cross her mind the moment she looked at Igneel's full name, though it's not like she thinks about Ignia in her free time. In the article, Igneel was 25, meaning he hadn't adopted Natsu until another 3 years. 

She also realized that Igneel is an Indian man who lived in Japan at the time, and Ignia is _also_ Indian who once lived in Japan before coming to America at a very young age. Now at a loss for words, Lucy decided to do something she hadn't done before: Look into Ignia's personal information. 

She tried to skim through as much as possible, the thought of having his name in her files already making her disgusted. It never dawned on her that, as his wife, Lucy didn't know as much about Ignia as she should. He never spoke about his past, she'd only found out about his heritage through business meetings. It was clear he'd kept things secret on purpose, he knows what he turned Lucy into, he knows what she could be capable of. At least, he _thinks_ he knows, but Lucy kept the depth of her skills a secret from him as well. 

After finding his birth certificate, she skimmed through the details and got to his parents, and lo and behold, Ignia's father is in fact Igneel Dragion. 

Lucy had to take a breather, this information was almost too much to handle. Natsu and Ignia are, by law, _brothers_ … and something had to happen to Igneel for Ignia to have inherited his company. _But… why would there be no documentation of death? Why would Igneel have to change his name..?_

The most important question, though, was what this could mean for her relationship with Natsu. He hadn't mentioned anything about having another brother, and she didn't see anything about Ignia when she looked through Natsu's other family. Maybe him being in foster care and getting adopted again jumbled some things up, but even so, a brother shouldn't be that hard for her to find. 

Suddenly, there was a thought that struck her, making her sick to her stomach. There's no telling what Ignia would do if he found out she'd been seeing his brother, especially considering the fact that he'd been trying to hide this information from her. Lucy realized she could be putting Natsu in even more danger than she had before, making that guilty feeling she always felt return. 

_Why did I have to involve myself in his life? All I'm doing is bringing more and more problems for him…_ Lucy held her head in her hands, completely frustrated with herself. In the beginning, she didn't care about what became of Natsu, as long as she got her freedom she was happy. But now, after getting to know him, she knew he didn't deserve any of the problems that she could give him, in fact, he didn't deserve anything but the best. _And I'm nowhere near "the best" for him right now..._

Lucy knew she had to seriously reconsider her plan right now, but she didn't get the chance to think things over for long before there was a loud knock at her door. 

"Lucy. Come here."

She quickly cleared her laptop and put it away before she answered the door, only opening it enough to reveal part of her face. 

"...What do you want?"

"I told you I needed to talk to you." Ignia had that angry look again, tempting Lucy to just shut the door in his face.

"Where's Selene?"

"She's in the shower." He pushed her door to open it fully, causing Lucy to immediately panic. It doesn't happen often, but she can't stand it when he goes into her room, this is supposed to be her comfort zone, and he does not belong here. "Look at me."

She reluctantly obliged and had to hold in a flinch when he gripped her shoulder. "I want to know what you said to Jude."

Lucy tried not to show her fear on her face, having enough experience with lying to make it sound natural. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"He called me, 'said you weren't happy being married to me."

"Well, I'm _not_ happy, and he's known that for years-" Lucy sucked in a breath when his grip on her shoulder tightened. 

"He said you told him you're afraid of me."

"...I-"

"What else did you tell him?" He'd gotten too close for comfort, but Lucy would not let her fear show.

"That's all I told him, honestly! If I would've told him the whole truth, you would've gotten much more than a phone call…"

Ignia pushed her backwards, but she was able to catch herself before he was right in her face. "You need to learn how to keep your fucking mouth shut!"

Lucy didn't say anything, allowing him to continue. "Tell Jude you want a divorce one more time, I dare you! You know what's gonna happen if you don't learn to shut up." 

Her head fell, knowing perfectly well what would happen if she told too much. She learned that the hard way. 

Ignia walked away, figuring she got the hint and not wanting to make a scene with a guest in the house. The second he left, Lucy immediately shut and locked her door. 

She should've known her father would tell Ignia what she said word-for-word, and that Ignia would take his anger out on her, but oh well. Right now, there were more important things to worry about.

Once she sat on her bed and began starting up her laptop again, but her phone's vibration distracted her. 

She received a text message, and a big smile made its way on her face when she saw it was from Natsu. Her smile fell, though, as soon as she read what he said.

**"We need to talk."**


	24. Severed Ties

Natsu wanted to roll his eyes, feeling a sense of deja vu here. It seemed as though whenever someone learned about his relationship, they wanted to try and talk him out of it.

"Hey, I'm not trying to sound redundant here, I promise what I'm going to tell you is something you haven't heard before." Levy gave him an apologetic smile as she held her large book close to her chest.

 _We'll see about that…_ "Alright, but tell me, how did you find out her real name?"

"Because I know her. Or, I _knew_ her, rather." Levy sighed, missing the shocked expression Natsu gave her.

"Wait… you _knew_ her? What do you mean?"

She set the book on the coffee table in front of them to allow him to look through, revealing that it's actually a photo album. "She and I were childhood friends." She pointed at a picture of her and Lucy, both looking like they were no older than 6.

"...Childhood friends…" Natsu looked over every picture on the page, and although most of them were just Levy and her family, young Lucy could be seen in a lot of them. "...W-what?"

"Yeah, you know I used to live in France, right? I moved here when I was 12, and Lucy and I were so close that her family moved to my town 2 years later so we could go to high school together."

Levy turned the page a few times before she stopped, now showing several pictures of her and Lucy in school uniforms. "Her name was Lucienne, but she started going by Lucy when she moved here… I never got rid of the photos even after what happened between us…" 

"What happened?" Natsu had to pry his eyes away from the album to look at her, he was just too fascinated with seeing what Lucy looked like when she was a kid.

"...Well," Levy sighed as she stared at the pictures, "I knew her since we were 5… we did _everything_ together, and likewise, we told each other _everything_ , too…"

"...When we got to high school, Lucy was completely out of her element. She was homeschooled for most of her childhood, and then went to an all-girl private school for a couple years before she moved, so going to an American, public high school was terrifying for her." 

She flipped the page again, now showing her and Lucy in what Natsu assumed was their teen years. "She was a huge nerd, just like me," she laughed dryly, "And cared about her grades more than socializing, honestly. She wanted to go to college and get an English degree, I remember she mentioned she wanted to become an author someday… but…"

Levy finally looked up at him, her expression sullen. "...She completely changed near the end of senior year." She slumped in her spot as she let her eyes fall back to the pictures. "She became a monster."

"Levy…" Natsu began to feel awkward. He could tell she was upset, and he didn't want her to get emotional, but her words made him _very_ curious. "...What do you mean by 'monster'?" 

Levy sighed as she looked away in thought "She suddenly started breaking rules… skipping school, stealing, even drug dealing… I had no idea what happened, it was like she was a different person…" 

Natsu bit his tongue. Lucy had said she was 17 when she became "Bunny," which would've been her senior year in high school, just as Levy said. He hadn't thought about her life of crime affecting her education, but it made sense. Of course her peers would notice something was off, or at least her childhood friend would.

"...We worked at a library together, and she ended up getting fired for missing too many work days. I quit so I could get us both a job at Gajeel's shop, y'know, back when his father owned it… I thought maybe she was doing those things because she wanted to make money… which is funny, considering her family is full of millionaires." 

"Wait…" Natsu furrowed his brows. "She worked at the tat shop with you?"

"Yeah, but she only did piercings."

"But… how could I have missed her? I was 18 then, thats when I got, like, 2 of my tattoos!"

"...You're right, that _is_ strange…" Levy tapped her chin in thought. "You probably _did_ see her, and you've just forgotten…" She looked through the photo album before taking a single picture out. "This is what she looked like at the time."

She handed him the picture of Lucy, the blonde had large, thick glasses, short twin braids, and an embarrassingly large smile that revealed her braces. To Natsu, the picture was absolutely adorable, and he kind of wanted a copy to see how Lucy would react.

"Hey…" Levy snapped her fingers when she realized he'd gone in a daze. "Focus, Natsu!"

"Oh!" Natsu shook his head to clear his mind. "My bad…"

" _Anyway_ , things never got better for her, and I tried to help, I _really_ did, but she shut me out. We couldn't have a conversation without her getting defensive, and she was always angry. I figured it could've been because her mom was sick, but I don't know."

"...And so that's why you two stopped being friends?"

"Not exactly…" Levy's sad expression morphed into an angry one. "...We got into a fight, I just wanted to help her, and she kept telling me how 'annoying' I am… then she started insulting my relationship with Gajeel. It got pretty bad, Loke had to break us up, and me and her never spoke again after that."

"...Wait, did you say Loke?"

"Yeah, we went to high school together. He'll tell you the same thing- Lucy Just changed over night. She was his first heartbreak, too. They dated for most of high school before she suddenly broke up with him." 

Natsu decided to ignore her last sentence as he thought over her words. He doesn't know for sure, but it definitely seems like Lucy was forced into a life of crime, and that she doesn't really want to be this way. Though, he doesn't know what happened during their big fight, and he knew it'd be wrong of him to pick her side just because he has a thing for her.

"Natsu…" Levy placed her hand on his shoulder to catch his attention. "I need you to know that… that you may _think_ you know Lucy, but you don't. _No one_ truly knows her, and there's no telling what she could be keeping from you. For all you know, she could be leading you into a trap, whether it's her intention doesn't matter."

Normally, Natsu would defend his decision, but Levy here knows Lucy better than he could hope to. That doesn't necessarily mean she's right, though. "I don't think it's anything I can't handle. I _am_ Salamander, remember?"

"No…" Levy shook her head, her sullen expression returning. "I don't want her to end up breaking your heart." 

Natsu's eyes softened, though he wasn't sure what to say. Sure, he really likes Lucy, but he'd gone into this knowing that she wouldn't want anything more. At the end of the day, he just wants to help her, and being intimate was the only way she'd allowed herself to open up with him. 

"...You think she'd break my heart?"

"Well, she broke mine." Levy closed the photo album and hugged it close to herself again. "She was like a sister to me, but whatever she's been hiding caused her to completely throw our relationship down the drain. She… she put some guy she just met before us… before _herself_ , too…"

"...What do you mean? What guy?" Now Natsu was sure Levy was referring to Lucy's boss, but he wanted to be sure.

"Hm… Honestly, I never knew much about him. She sort of disappeared for a while, and then suddenly she tells me it was because she was focusing on her relationship. I think he had something to do with the way she turned out."

 _Relationship?_ Natsu realized the best way to confirm any of this would be to speak with Lucy on his own, and that this topic seemed to really be getting Levy down."Hey, I know you're worried about me, and I promise I'll consider what you've said, but I'm sure there's more to this than what you may think."

Levy seemed okay with what he said, simply shrugging in response. 

"Say…" A thought crossed him. "...Why haven't you or even Loke mentioned anything about Lucy until now? The gang has tried investigating her before, and never had much luck…"

"...I think it may be the same for Loke when I say a part of me wants to protect her." Levy smiled sadly. "I understand you, Natsu, despite everything, you want to believe that there's some good in her. I didn't want her to be taken down before she got the opportunity to be better."

Natsu nodded and placed a comforting hand on her back. "...I should talk to her about this."

"...Do you think she'd be honest with you?" 

"Yes, I do… Hey, do _you_ want to talk to her, too?" 

Levy's eyes widened as she shook her head. "Oh no, that'd be a _horrible_ idea… We aren't on good terms, and I don't want to overreact about anything since, y'know, hormones…"

"Oh, right…" He'd nearly forgotten she was pregnant. "Well… I'll see what she'll say…" He decided to let Lucy know that he planned to discuss things with her, pulling out his phone to text her;

**"We need to talk."**

"Alright, let me know how it goes." Levy pulled him into a surprise hug before she stood, taking her book with her.

"Wait... Um, you don't think I could borrow one of those photos, do you?"

Levy raised her brow before giving him a knowing smile. "I can get copies for you, though that's pretty weird, y'know."

"Hey, I just want the one where she has braces... I want to compare it to how she looks now."

Levy looked away in silence for a moment before she mumbled under her breath, "How _does_ she look now..?"

"Well," Natsu wasn't exactly sure how to describe Lucy, so he went with his first thought, "She's really pretty."

Levy shook her head in amusement, but she didn't comment on his words. "Is she doing alright? Is she... happy?"

"Well... As much as I hate to believe it, I don't think she's doing too well mentally. That's kinda why I'm seeing her... I want her to get help, and I think I'm slowly getting her to open up."

Levy couldn't help but be envious, she's known Lucy for most of their lives, yet Natsu comes in out of nowhere and she opens up to _him,_ of all people. "Hm, I should get going." She left, not wanting to be too obvious about her resentment.

Having Levy around would make learning about Lucy _much_ easier, but Natsu knew she wasn't happy with this subject, and he really shouldn't make her speak about it. He debated on asking Loke about this, but he had mixed feelings about the history he and Lucy had.

It'd be better to get his information from the source, anyway.


	25. Reminisce

Lucy's nerves were killing her, and she couldn't stop bobbing her leg as she sucked on the candy in her mouth.

After receiving Natsu's text, she planned on meeting up with him that next morning, but Ignia was still very angry, and she hadn't felt it was safe to leave her room until two days passed. She couldn't call Natsu in fear of getting caught, and she didn't want to have some serious conversation over text while she was still unsafe, so that left her to be restless.

Now, she only needed to wait for Natsu to finish in the bathroom before they could talk, and her anxiousness is really starting to peak. _I'm a mess…_

"Hey."

Lucy sucked in a breath as Natsu entered the main room. "...Hey."

"...What's that?" Natsu pointed at the stick poking out her mouth. 

"Oh," She took it out, revealing the candy, "It's a _sucette_."

"You mean a sucker? Why're you holding it like that?" She had it between her index and middle finger, holding it as if it was a cigarette. "'S kinda... weird..."

Lucy slowly looked over at her hand before abruptly shaking her head. "Nevermind that! You said you wanted to talk, yes..?"

"Oh, right…" Natsu decided to sit beside her on the couch and idly placed his hand on her fidgety leg. "...Someone told me about you…"

"...What do you mean?"

"Do you remember Levy?"

Lucy's face slowly fell into a scowl. "...McGarden?"

"Well, it's Redfox now, but yeah. Did you know she's a member of Fairy Tail?" Natsu could easily see the anger on her face, which intrigued him.

"...I suppose I knew…" She bit into her sucker harshly, breaking it inside her mouth. "Whatever she said about me was most likely wrong."

Natsu frowned, he hadn't expected her to immediately get angry. It seemed as though she and Levy were kinda on the same page about their feelings for each other. "She said you two were childhood friends, but you changed during your senior year…"

"Yes, I told you I was 17 when I started all this," She gestured to herself, "But all Levy did was stick her nose where it didn't belong."

"Well, she told me she wanted to help you…"

Lucy laughed humorlessly. "Some help she was, huh? If by 'help' you mean she wanted to spread baseless rumors about me, then yeah."

"Really..?" It surely didn't _sound_ like something Levy would do, but Natsu knew he should have an open mind. 

"Yes, really. She thinks because we were friends, she was entitled to know _everything_ about me. And when I didn't tell her, she started going around and accusing me of crimes."

"And you hadn't actually done those crimes?"

"...Don't get me wrong, that's when 'Bunny' came to life, but the things she accused me for weren't true. All she did was cause more problems for me, and when I called her out on it, she just played victim." 

"...The things you _did_ do, though… you didn't want to, did you?"

Having already been annoyed with the subject of conversation, his question caught her off guard. He looked sad, and it only just occurred to her that Levy is his friend, and he probably wouldn't be happy to know about whatever problems she has with her. "What're you talking about?"

"You never wanted to be 'Bunny,' did you?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, debating on how she'd answer. "What makes you say that?"

Natsu wasn't expecting her to answer, but he knew it was worth a try. "Levy told me you were very good in school, and that you had big dreams. Turning into 'Bunny' wasn't your choice, was it?"

After mulling over her options, Lucy sighed. "Of course it wasn't my choice." Natsu's eyes widened, surprised that she'd admit that. "I wanted to go to college and write a book, but…"

"But..?"

"...But I didn't."

Her words were disappointing, making Natsu realize she wouldn't go into detail. "She said there was a guy you met… was that your boss?"

She groaned, _that_ was another horrible memory for her. "Yep. And as always, she got the wrong idea about it."

"Well, nevermind what Levy said, what did your boss do to you that made you turn to crime?"

Lucy said nothing for a moment, staring at him blankly as her leg continued to bob up and down. Normally, she's been really good about lying when it came to this, but she didn't want to. Despite knowing it'd be best to tell the truth, she knew she couldn't be any more than vague. "...It's very complicated. Remember when I told you about my mother?"

Natsu returned the intense look she gave as he remembered that conversation. Whatever happened to her mother clearly traumatized her, but… "Are you saying your boss is the one who… shot her?"

"Not exactly… but because I work under him, it won't happen again." 

Sensing her discomfort, Natsu decided to pull the breaks on this topic. "Okay… We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." 

Lucy laid her head back against the couch as she released a sigh she'd been holding in. She was glad he wouldn't pry her for more answers, but she knew their conversation wasn't over. There were still some very important things _she_ needed to know, too. "Natsu…"

"Yes?" Natsu turned his body towards her completely. Usually after their conversations, she wanted to get intimate, but it seems like that isn't the case right now.

"Your father…" Unsure if this would upset him, Lucy hesitated. "...Did he, er, do you have another brother?"

The question seemed completely random, but most of her questions always were. There was no telling what goes on in her head. "Nah."

"...Igneel had no other children before you?"

Natsu furrowed his brows before he realized, "Oh, yeah, he _did_ have a son. Ignia's not my brother, though." 

Hearing Natsu say Ignia's name felt too surreal, and a part of her didn't want to ever hear him say it again. "Why don't you claim him as a brother?"

"Because he was always a piece of shit." 

Lucy bit her inner cheek to stop herself from voicing her agreement. "Care to elaborate?"

"Oh, um…" Natsu looked down in thought. "...Well, Dad didn't have custody of him, so I guess he lived with his mother before she died. I remember him _always_ being in juvie, and Dad never wanted me to spend too much time around him whenever he visited. The times when I _did_ speak to him were always the same, I think he was just mad at the world and took his anger out on literally everything." 

_So he's always been this way? I guess he knew how to hide it for a few months…_ "...Do you think he might know what became of your father?"

Natsu's eyes became unfocused as he hesitated to answer. "...I dunno, last I heard, he was due to serve time in prison. I remember asking him to help find our dad around the time Zeref got locked up, and… Let's just say _I_ ended up having to spend time in juvie, too."

Hearing Natsu mention that Ignia should be in prison was a huge shock. Lucy hadn't done any digging on Ignia herself since she was either too paranoid or just didn't want to have his name on her computer, but now she was very tempted. She hasn't heard of him having any criminal record whatsoever, and it was clear that he pulled some strings to clear his name. _He probably pulled some strings so he could inherit the company, too…_

"Anyway, you probably wouldn't want to get involved with him." Natsu was flattered that she was concerned about his father's disappearance, but he'd already gone through hell over that with no luck. "It's not worth it."

Lucy wondered what he'd say if he knew she was _already_ involved, but she decided to pretend to accept his words. "I'm just surprised, your family is very… complicated. What else have you been holding out on me?"

"Actually, I heard you worked at the Metallic Tattoo shop, well the previous owner is my uncle. The owner now, Gajeel, is my cousin... I'm assuming you're pretty familiar with him, right?"

"Hm…" Lucy smiled, though her happiness was short-lived. That job came with a lot of great memories, but they all eventually led to bad ones. "Yeah, I remember when you went there for your first tattoo, though I was done with my shift by the time you were getting inked."

"...What?" Natsu gaped at her. "You mean… we've met before!?" 

"Well, I wouldn't say we've 'met,' I just saw you. I remember thinking, 'what an odd hair colour,'" Lucy giggled, "I recognized you when we first formally met. There was no secret reason why I knew your name and age, I just remembered from when I asked Gajeel about you all those years ago. Seriously, I wouldn't have forgotten the combination of your rose hair and that muffler you always wear." 

Natsu couldn't help but laugh. To think that they could've easily known each other 3 years ago, it was honestly bizarre. "Oh, wait," He pulled out a photo from his pocket, "Levy gave me a copy of this old picture."

The moment Lucy caught sight of the embarrassing picture of her- the one she remembered was taken near the end of her junior year, back when she didn't know how to pose for pictures or style her hair- her fight-or-flight activated. She snatched the photo out of his hands and got up to stash it away in the nearest drawer. 

"Hey! It's a cute photo!" Natsu laughed as he stood up behind her.

"No it definitely is _not_! Why the hell did Levy even keep that!?"

"She actually has a whole bunch of pictures of you two, starting from when you were probably, like, 6 or something." 

"Seriously..?" Lucy wasn't sure what she felt upon hearing that, but didn't dwell on it for long. "Hm, weird." She stretched her arms out and began to remove her top, glad that she wasn't as anxious as before. 

Natsu followed her as she walked towards the main bedroom, but she stopped him before he could strip completely. "I don't wanna do anything right now, is it okay if you just lay with me for a while?" 

Her suggestion made him blush, the thought of simply cuddling together without having sex seemed surprisingly more intimate. "We can do whatever you wanna do." He decided to just remove his shirt and scarf, wanting to be more comfortable. 

Lucy patted a spot next to her on the bed as she laid down, prompting Natsu to lay beside her. As she immediately snuggled atop his chest, he felt like his heart would melt. She would never know just how much he enjoys being with her, and she'll probably never feel the same either. 

"Y'know, Natsu…"

"...Yeah?"

"I've been thinking… You might be too good for me." 

"What..?" Natsu looked down at her, but she had her eyes closed as she ran her finger along his chest. 

"I mean… I'm basically a ticking time bomb, there's only a matter of time before I get you hurt."

"...Lucy…"

"And, it's not like our deal is very fair, is it? Maybe you should forget about me."

"Hey…" Natsu stroked her cheek to get her to look at him. "...Where's this coming from?"

Looking into his eyes made it harder, but she knew she needed him to know she was being sincere,"...I guess I just realized… In the beginning, I didn't really care about what happened to you. Now, I wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt because of me."

"...Why do you think I'd get hurt?"

"Someone always gets hurt." Lucy sighed as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Mama's been in the hospital for the past 3 years, Papa fled the country and moved back home to France, I had to fake my own death because I wanted my loved ones to stay away from this area… Unless you count the staff here, I have no friends. I can't afford to have any close relationships, because… someone always gets hurt."

"I think it's worth it."

Lucy raised her head to look down at him. "...What do you mean?"

Natsu smiled up at her as he ran his hand through her hair. "I wanna help you. I don't think it's anything I can't handle, anyway." 

"...You think I need help?"

Natsu nodded, "Yeah, it's kinda obvious, honestly. You've been hurt for a long time, and you've never had the opportunity to heal. If you don't let anyone get close because you're afraid of hurting them, then how will you ever get help? I think I know what I'm getting myself into when I say I wanna be here for you, Luce..."

He trailed off when he felt something drip onto his cheek, and it didn't take long for him to realize it was her tears. She was smiling, though, and she said nothing as she leaned down to kiss him. 

It wasn't easy for Lucy, she'd made the decision to put a pause on her plan when she realized Ignia and Natsu are connected. She just knew that if this failed and Ignia found out, he'd kill him, and she would never let that monster hurt Natsu, even if it meant putting up with him forever. 

She knew it wouldn't be an easy decision, but hearing Natsu tell her he wanted to help, it felt more real now than it would've 2 and a half months ago when they met. Perhaps she's attached now, though she wouldn't admit it. 

If Natsu knew what exactly was at stake here, maybe things would be different, but for now, Lucy allowed herself to be selfish. He doesn't even know about her plan, yet he's been here for her as if he does. 

Maybe it was time to start looking on the bright side of things, and to look at the future with an optimistic attitude. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sucette- Lollipop/Sucker
> 
> I promise the scene with the "sucette" will not be irrelevant lol


	26. Nuisance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were scenes in this chapter that were a little hard to write (emotionally).

The house was silent as Lucy and Plue entered, _oddly_ silent. It was past midnight, and she usually got in trouble when she came home at a time like this, but there was no angry husband to greet her.

"Maybe he's not here?" She mumbled to Plue, who was also on edge. They both knew better than to ever let their guard down in this house.

Lucy scanned each room she passed on the way to her own, and the dim light coming from the entertainment room caught her attention. She figured Ignia must be in there, but there was something that told her to check and make sure. 

As quietly as she could, Lucy tiptoed to the doorway and peeked inside, and just as she should've known, Ignia was right on the couch. Only, he definitely wasn't awake, and he wasn't alone. 

"Dammit… go upstairs, Plue." Lucy sighed, it was always so annoying when she had to clean Ignia's mess. He never knows when to quit, so it wasn't uncommon for her to walk in on him in this situation. 

There were two girls on the couch as well, both equally as passed out as he is, and the room reeked of liquor. Lucy's first move was to try and see if the girls were fine, but when neither of them woke up after she shook them by their shoulders, she groaned. 

She went to the hallway closet and got two blankets to place atop each of them after shifting them so they laid comfortably on the couch, and then sighed as she had to face her next problem.

As much as she'd like to retreat to her room now, Lucy just couldn't let Ignia stay here with these girls. Her conscience just wouldn't allow her to know that he'd be here unsupervised with two vulnerable women. 

"Hey… Ignia…" She shook him and whispered into his ear, "Get up."

Ignia stirred, but didn't open his eyes until Lucy's shakes became violent. "...What?"

"Get up, Ignia. It's time to go to bed." Lucy backed away from him as soon as he sat up, and she kept her voice firm. "You need to sleep in your room." 

Ignia took in his surroundings, clearly still _very_ intoxicated. He subtly reached for one of the sleeping girls beside him on the couch, but Lucy quickly smacked his hand away.

Surprisingly, he's always much easier to deal with when he's drunk. His attention span is much smaller, and he's too uncoordinated to be intimidating. The two stared each other down before Ignia sluggishly stood up.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He grumbled.

"I live here, Ignia."

"Where have you been all day?" 

"Working. Now, go lay down." She lightly shoved him out of the room and into the hall. "You need to go to sleep."

"Hey…" Suddenly, Ignia turned around and grabbed her forearm. "...Come with me."

"...What?" Lucy was frozen in panic, she was not wearing her gloves, and the feeling of him touching her skin made her stomach churn.

"Come with me and let's have some fun…" He pulled her closer. "C'mon… Don't be a bitch about it." 

Lucy shoved him away, her forceful demeanor quickly disappearing. "Stop this, Ignia… just go to sleep…"

"I just wanna fuck-" She pushed him away when he tried to get close, distracting his thoughts. "Hey… Where are your gloves?" 

"I-I… I took them off, I didn't think there'd be anyone here at this hour…" She wanted to keep guiding him towards his room, but she also wanted to get as far away from him as possible. "C'mon, aren't you tired? Just go lie down…"

"Why the fuck would you take your gloves off!?" His voice grew louder, "No one wants to see your disgusting skin!" 

Lucy said nothing, already knowing his words were true. She squeaked in surprise when he grabbed her arms, his grip harsh and bruising. 

"Why the fuck would you come up to me with your arms out like this? And your hands… You nasty bitch!"

"S-stop!" Lucy tried to pull her arms out of his grasp, to no avail. "Why are you so mean to me!?"

To her surprise, Ignia let her go, but he didn't seem to be any calmer. "...Why do you keep hurting me?" She hadn't realized she started crying, the thought of getting vulnerable in front of him making her embarrassed. 

"You keep pissing me off…"

"But you don't have to hit and yell at me… I'd listen to you if you were nicer, y'know…" She hugged herself in a fruitless attempt to try and feel less naked under his fierce gaze.

"...You don't know what you're saying."

"What happened to you, Ignia? What happened to the man I could call my friend?" 

"Y-you…" 

He seemed confused, giving Lucy the opportunity to start guiding him down the hall again. "C'mon… go to your room."

"Lucy…"

"Just go to your room, Ignia."

"I'm sorry, Lucy…" He turned around, causing her to roll her eyes in annoyance. "...I still love you, you know that?"

"Sure, now let's keep moving forward-"

"I love you, babe."

"Okay, Ignia, now-"

"Don't you love me too?" 

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose, internally screaming. "Yes, Ignia. Even though you constantly torment and abuse me, I 'still' love you. Now would you please turn around and go to your fucking room?" 

He stared at her blankly, causing her to huff in exasperation. "Hey, maybe I could walk to your room _with_ you..? Would you like that, _honey_?"

"Yeah… you know, I really miss your body…"

"Mhm, well let's get going, then?" Finally, he started towards his room, and Lucy followed at a safe distance behind him. Once he made it to his door, he grabbed her, forcing her to join him as he sat on his bed.

"C'mon babe… take your top off…" He pulled on her shirt, but Lucy held it down to stop it from lifting. 

"How about you just lay down..?" She winced as he grabbed one of her breasts, feeling a mixture of fear and anger overcome her. "H-hey… get your hand off of me..!"

"Take your fucking top off, whore…" With his other hand, he continued to pull her shirt. "Show me what's mine…" The look on his face, the tone of his voice, the way he still hadn't moved his hands, Lucy felt like she'd throw up. 

"Get… your hand… off of me!" She tried to pry him off, but he didn't budge. "Stop touching me or else!"

"Shut the fuck up and get naked, you stupid bitch-" 

Finally, the room fell silent. Ignia was knocked out on the bed, and Lucy's fist was raised as she breathed heavily, having just delivered an uppercut to his jaw. It was a relief that he's drunk right now, normally a punch like that wouldn't have had this effect. Hopefully he wouldn't remember this happened, but Lucy figured she'd get out of the house early before he wakes up.

She dusted herself off and shut his door as she left, taking a minute to check on the girls in the entertainment room before she walked to her own. 

Plue was asleep on her bed, and Lucy was glad that he hadn't been there to witness her distress. He may be trained to calm her when she's upset, but he didn't deserve to be constantly overwhelmed. 

Lucy felt exhausted, she'd _actually_ been working all day, which is something she hadn't really done since she started seeing Natsu. Having the secret hotel helped her make the money Ignia was expecting without suspicion, so she'd been slacking off lately in order to have more time with Natsu. 

She knew she shouldn't keep letting herself get out of shape like this, but recently… all she wanted was him. And this was a different want than before, she wasn't after his body or his help, she just wanted _him_. It felt crazy, and she knew it had to be unhealthy, but he makes her happy.

"I need to get my shit together…" Lucy whispered to herself as she cuddled beside Plue on her bed. "...And I need to get my priorities straight…"

* * *

"It's so nice out! I'm gonna miss this weather when it starts snowing…"

"Yeah, hopefully the winter isn't as bad this year."

Natsu and Lisanna made easy conversation as they harvested the various grape vines in his yard with practiced ease. Back when this was Igneel's house, he always had his own fruits and vegetables in the garden in the large yard, and Natsu had decided to keep the tradition going. His friends always came by to support and help, and he'd give them their share of fresh produce in return. 

Today, Lisanna was here to collect grapes, and because there were so many, the two figured they would try and make something with them this afternoon. 

"Maybe we could make some jam… or maybe a pie..?"

"Hm… Makes no difference to me as long as all these grapes go to use." 

"Right, I know Mira is gonna love having fresh grapes for the bar."

"Yeah-" Natsu caught sight of his hand, it was covered in dirt up to his wrist from when he'd uprooted some of the vines. "...I think that's enough for now, I should get cleaned up." 

"Okay, yeah. I'll try and get started on something…"

The two walked inside with their pails of fruit, Natsu dropping his in the kitchen before going upstairs. Lisanna began washing grapes in the kitchen sink and humming to herself. 

"Natsu's been much happier lately, hm?" She mumbled to Happy, who was laying atop the counter. "I'm sure you're just as relieved as I am about that." 

After a few minutes, there was a faint knocking sound, causing Lisanna to cut off the water and stop moving in an attempt to see if she'd hear it again. She assumed it might've been from Natsu upstairs, but it sounded again, louder this time. 

She was certain it was the front door, and it might've been someone coming over to get in on the grape-action today, but she didn't recognize the person outside as she looked through the door's peephole. 

Well, she didn't think she recognized the woman outside at first, but she slowly became familiar. 

"Wait… is that..?" Lisanna was tempted to go and get Natsu to confirm, but when the knocking sounded again, she figured she shouldn't keep her waiting. 

When she opened the door, she was met with a blonde woman who had a suspiciously sweet smile. Her first thought was that this woman was very pretty, and her second thought was why on earth would she be walking inside before even saying anything.

"H-hey, you-"

"Wow, what a _sick_ house! Is Natsu here?"

"Um… yes..?"

"What's the matter? Don't you know who I am?"

Lisanna wasn't sure what to do as she watched her walk into the living room. "Um… not exactly…"

"Really? Well, I know who _you_ are, Lis."

As the two silently stared into each other's eyes for an uncomfortably long amount of time, Lisanna slowly began to panic. Just as she was about to open her mouth and call for Natsu, the woman placed her gloved hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Hey, no need to be afraid. I'm Lucy, it's nice to meet you~" Lucy held out her hand for Lisanna to shake, and she couldn't help but giggle as she took in her wide eyes and fidgety demeanor. "Aw, you're so _cute_ …" 

"...Thanks?"

"Mhm… what are you doing at Natsu's house? Alone, might I add?"

Lisanna wasn't sure if that was jealousy in Lucy's tone, but she wasn't planning on finding out. "Um… We were just harvesting his grapes… do you, uh, want some?"

"I _hate_ grapes."

"O-oh… I'm sorry-"

Lucy cut her off with bubbly laughter, shoving her shoulder teasingly. "I'm just kidding, cutie! Seriously, you can relax, I'm not gonna hurt you…"

Lisanna nodded, though she didn't calm down. Lucy guided her to sit on the couch, and got oddly comfortable as she draped an arm around her shoulders. "You know, I wanted to thank you for helping Natsu out on our first date."

"Oh, sure… no problem…" 

"You two must be _super_ close, huh?" Lucy's tone was dangerous, yet her face was still kind. "Do you guys hang out a lot?"

"Uh… Well… we've been friends since we were in grade school, but he's been depressed lately, so I wouldn't say we hang out a _lot_ … but I like to check up on him."

"He's been… depressed?" Lucy frowned, though something told her she should've expected that. "Well…"

"Actually, he's been much better ever since he met you…" Lisanna could easily see Lucy was upset about the idea of Natsu being unhappy, which intrigued her. "I suppose I should thank you."

Lucy stared at Lisanna in silence as she subtly leaned into her. "Say… 'you dating anyone right now?"

"Um… what..?" Lisanna's face broke out into a blush, not understanding the sudden topic shift. "W-why?"

Poking her nose, Lucy gave her a sultry smile. "You're just so cute, I can't image you'd be single."

"I… I am…"

"Really? How odd, maybe I could..." Lucy trailed off when she heard footsteps coming down the steps and nearing the living room. "...Well, it's about time~"

"Lis? I could've sworn I heard ya talkin'..." Natsu's steps gradually got slower as he took in the scene in front of him. "...To someone…" He froze, trying to process multiple things at once.

Not only is Lucy in his _house_ , but she's cuddled up to Lisanna on his couch, looking the most underdressed he'd ever seen her, and had dyed a part of her hair. 

"...What the hell is going on?" 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta reader [ilah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilah/pseuds/ilah)


End file.
